June 2002: Vol. 81, No. 3June 2002: Vol. 81, No. 3
hen it comes to enriching Atlanta's cultural offerings or making UGA the best university it can be, it's hard to find two more involved or important people than Lynda and Richard Courts.
Lynda (AB '63), who graces the cover of our June issue (see story), was such a talented dancer that she performed with the main company of Atlanta Ballet while still in high school at Westminster. Her mentor was the legendary "Miss Dorothy" Alexander, who started a concert dance group in 1929 that was the forerunner of Atlanta Ballet.
How fitting then, that as board chair from 1989-96, Lynda helped save Atlanta Ballet from financial collapse. She is now a mainstay of the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund, which supports small- to medium-sized arts organizations like the Ballethnic dance company, whose dancers also grace the cover of this issue.
Lynda's husband, Richard W. Courts II (BBA '59), also learned from a legend—the great Dan Magill (ABJ '42). Richard was a star fullback at Westminster and he walked on as a freshman football player at UGA. Weighing only 148 pounds, he switched to tennis and played three years on the varsity team under Magill.
"Richard was a good player and his father, Malon (AB '29), won a national 45-and-over doubles championship with the great Bitsy Grant," says Magill, who recalls coaching the sons of three of Atlanta's most prominent families at once in the late 1950s: Richard, Lindsey Hopkins III (BBA '61), and Alfred Thompson Jr. (BBA '59).
Richard played on a Georgia tennis team that beat Tech, which was unusual back in those days. He then went to New York and worked for Courts & Co. for three years before returning to Atlanta and marrying Lynda. When Courts & Co. was sold in 1969, Richard joined Atlantic Realty Co. and today is chairman and CEO of Atlantic Investment Co. His contributions to his alma mater are so numerous they're even difficult to summarize. After serving as a trustee of the UGA Foundation for nearly two decades, he was chairman from 1990-92 and is now a trustee emeritus.
"Richard was involved in completely reorganizing the foundation," says Shell Hardman Knox (BS '66), who was chair from 1994-96. "He took it to the next level from a fundraising point of view."
"Richard is very focused and conscientious and he set good, clear objectives," says Dudley Moore Jr. (BBA '57), who succeeded him as foundation chairman from 1992-94. "He laid the groundwork to reduce the size of the foundation board, which made the work of the trustees a lot more meaningful—both collectively and individually."
In serving on the UGA Foundation, Richard was following a family tradition. His uncle, Richard W. Courts Jr. (AB '18) was also a trustee. And a scholarship honoring his father established one of UGA's first two Foundation Fellowships in 1973. Richard and Lynda have raised four sons—one of whom, Richard W. Courts IV (BBA '95), graduated from UGA.
While the boys were growing up, Lynda was active in the Atlanta Junior League. After that, says Richard, "Lynda decided she wanted to do something she had a passion about—and obviously that was the Atlanta Ballet."
Richard has fond memories of playing tennis at UGA under Magill. "When the Georgia team was celebrating its first NCAA championship in 1985, Richard told Magill, "The 1959 Georgia tennis team couldn't be ball boys compared to the talent you have out there today."
