Chattanooga developer Wolford named lifetime UC Foundation trustee

James "Bucky" Wolford grew up in small-town Kimberly, Ala., the son of a coal miner and without indoor plumbing.

But he parlayed a football scholarship at the University of Chattanooga into a degree and then a lucrative business career, first as a partner with shopping center developer CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and then in his own venture.

Wolford, 70, recently was named one of just a handful of people to have been chosen as a lifetime trustee of the UC Foundation, which manages the private endowment of UTC that's in excess of $126 million.

"I came up in the fall of 1966 on a football scholarship, stayed here, finished up and remained in Chattanooga," he said. "I married a woman from Chattanooga. Those were some of the best moves I've ever made."

James "Bucky" Wolford

Kim White, who heads the nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co. and recently succeeded Wolford as UC Foundation chairman, said that while she's dedicated to the university, Wolford feels even stronger about it.

She said Wolford, who heads retail shopping center company Wolford Development Inc., talks about "how life- changing [the university] was to him."

Wolford, whose two-year term as UC Foundation chairman ended this summer, said he helped negotiate new agreements with the UT system that will give more control and autonomy to the foundation in the years ahead.

The affiliation and employee services agreements with UT will help "control our own destiny rather than them trying to control it for us," he said. "It's like running a business. You'd want to control [employees]. I felt that was important. They didn't see eye to eye on that. They came around."

Wolford cited the help of UT President Dr. Joe DiPietro, who worked with the foundation to achieve the end result, though the process took 18 months.

"I was worn out when it was over," Wolford quipped.

The foundation emerged from the 1969 merger between the private UC and Chattanooga City College and the joining of the UT system of statewide campuses.

The Chattanooga businessman said the foundation has remained important to the local university.

"It has contributed a lot of money to the UTC campus," said Wolford, who remains on the UC panel.

White said the agreements will pay off for years to come.

"We want to be linked with [the UT system], but we want to ensure UC is an individual organization," she said. "That's one of the strengths of the university."

White said Wolford's efforts were "the best negotiating I've ever watched."

She said the foundation provides scholarships to students, but also facilitated the Probasco residence halls, a 1,700-bed complex adjacent to the campus.

Also, the foundation is putting up money to help in the redevelopment of the Lupton Library building, White said.

Wolford said he took a UC diploma when he graduated in 1969. He said he could have gotten either that or a UTC diploma, but he felt a close affiliation with UC.

After graduation, Wolford said, he worked in drug sales and then at the chamber of commerce where he met Moses Lebovitz, who gave him an opportunity to join his Chattanooga retail development firm, Arlen Shopping Centers.

"I went to work for Moses and [his son] Charles Lebovitz in 1972," he said. "That was one of the best things that ever happened to me. They gave me a heck of an opportunity."

In 1978, he joined with four others, including Charles Lebovitz, as principals in CBL and Associates Inc. In 1987, the company developed its flagship mall, Hamilton Place, in Chattanooga.

In 1993, CBL became a real estate investment trust named CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. CBL has developed into one of the nation's largest mall REITs, owning, holding interests in or managing more than 128 properties.

Wolford retired from CBL in 1997 and two years later started Wolford Development Inc., which he still heads.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.