Jerry Dickenson CPA

Jerry W. Dickenson, CPA holds the Robert H. Dedman Endowed Chair Emeritus position in the Merchandising, Hospitality & Tourism College at the University of North Texas (UNT).  Jerry previously held the Robert H. Dedman Chair in Club Management in the Hospitality Management Program at UNT from January 1996 until August 31, 2016.  Jerry was the Founding Chairman of the Board of Governors of the UNT Hospitality Management Program in 1986 and served in that position until 1996 when he joined the faculty.  He has now rejoined the Board of Governors.

Jerry spent 32 years with ClubCorp in Dallas, Texas.   Jerry was responsible for all operations of Club Corp of America (the world’s largest operator of private county and city clubs) for fourteen years with the final title of President.  In 1987 ClubCorp (a holding company was created) with two major subsidiaries—Club Corporation of America (CCA) and Club Resorts. Jerry became the Executive Vice President of ClubCorp and the Founding Chairman and CEO of Club Resorts and served in these positions until 1995.  Club Resorts flagship resort was Pinehurst (The largest golf operation in the United States with nine golf courses) in North Carolina.  Pinehurst was the US Open site in 1999, 2005 and 2014.  Jerry was also Managing Director of ClubCorp–Asian Operations from 1991 until 1995 with offices in Tokyo, Japan and Singapore.

He taught, designed and developed the Resort and Club Management Class (a distributed learning class) which received the UNT 2005 Exemplary Online Teacher and Course Designer Award. He also taught the Internship Class for graduating seniors.  Jerry designed and authored the Hospitality Business Strategies Class.  This class was selected in 2004 after a curriculum review to be the Capstone Course for the Hospitality Management Program.

He chaired the UNT University Distributed Learning Committee from 1998 to May 31, 2016. Jerry is a Chilton Society level donor to UNT and was responsible for bringing the Robert Dedman Distinguished Chair in Club Management gift to UNT and the continuing gifts from the Dedman Foundation. CCA became the number one corporate supporter of the Hospitality & Tourism Program when Jerry was President.  Jerry also worked with Mr. Robert Dedman and Dr. Albert Hurley in getting the name of North Texas State University changed to University of North Texas.  Jerry was asked in 1988 to work with the Texas Highway Department in getting the Interstate 35 NTSU exit signage changed to UNT.

Jerry served from 1997 to 2004 as the Chair of the Club Management Segment of the Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education and held the same position in the Club Managers Association of America.  In April 2019 he was inducted into UNT’s College of Merchandising, Hospitality & Tourism’s Distinguished Legacy Board.  He served as a University Foundation Trustee from 1988 to 2013.  He has been an Emeritus Trustee since 2013.  He was the Centennial Year Distinguished Alumnus at UNT and the 2000 Hall of Fame member for the College of Business. He was Director of the Chief Executives Round Table (a Texas organization affiliated with UNT) of 50 CEO’s) and served in that position beginning 1997.  His term ended August 2018.   Jerry has been a member of the Society of International Business Fellows since 1992 and served as a national officer for three years.