Robert Dedman Robert H. Dedman, was a generous supporter of Florida State University's School of Hospitality, until his death from a heart attack in 2002 at age 76. Robert Dedman was from Rison, Arkansas, but moved to Dallas, Texas at fourteen. He was a businessman, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of ClubCorp Inc., which is a multibillion-dollar empire consisting of golf courses, and clubs.
Dedman received three degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, in engineering, economics, and law. He later earned another degree in law at Southern Methodist University (SMU), specializing in oil, gas, and taxation. Dedman started out his career at a law firm in Dallas. During that time, he started to play golf and learned from Ben Hogan. He fell in love with golf and wanted to invest his money in golf course and clubs. Then in 1957, he founded Country Club, Inc., which was renamed ClubCorp. ClubCorp is the world’s largest owner and operator of private clubs and resorts. He started ClubCorp in North Dallas at Brookhaven Country Club. Brookhaven is the first in what will later become a collection of more than 150 golf and country clubs, business clubs, sports clubs and alumni clubs operating in 25 states, the District of Columbia and two foreign countries (Singapore and Beijing). ClubCorp owns some very prestigious golf courses. Among them are: Pinehurst, the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.; Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio; and Indian Wells Country Club, Indian Wells, Calif. He was also very well known for his philanthropy as his business success grew. One of Dedman’s goals was to make enough money to allow him to give away $1 million a year. Dedman donated $10 million to the University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts in 1986. A street was later named after him at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Board of Trustees at SMU and served as
