Bob Bazemore '85

Bob Bazemore '85 has been in the interior design business for 35 years and gladly pays homage to his colleagues for his success.

“I've worked with some incredibly talented individuals along the way. I always tell students and anyone that will listen that, you really don't create design projects alone. It takes a host of talented people trying to achieve the same result,” said Bazemore, who owns his own design firm, J Bazemore Inc.

Bazemore works heavily in the home furnishings industry, from managing construction projects to product design to developing graphics for packaging. Clients include Davis Furniture and other major Southeast furniture manufacturers as well as major corporations like Walmart.

As a young Winthrop graduate in 1985, he was already excited about his career. Prior to graduation, he was fortunate to work in the Office of Campus Planning and Design and was instrumental in working on campus projects in the early 80s.

“I worked there at a time when Phil Lader was president of the university. His wife, Linda, had an architectural degree and they really believed in the buildings on campus and worked to bring a lot of them up to date,” said Bazemore, who studied textiles, consumer science and interior design.

During his time in the planning office, Bazemore recalled that he and others were treated as industry professionals rather than students.

“We were also expected to conduct our business and interactions with the staff in a professional manner,” he said. Bazemore interacted with the facilities management department on all of the projects that were under construction and undergoing renovations at the time, and presented projects to the president and his staff.

The work experience gave him an incredible portfolio. Two months after graduation, he was able to launch his career at a Charlotte architectural firm. He went on to work for other local firms, including Little Architects, where he was director of interiors. Over the years, Bazemore has worked all over the world (including France and China) and has been lauded for his design work with several national design awards.

“From those experiences, I had the pleasure of working with some pretty cool people.  Many of them I still work with today. I like to believe that my work success has come from the relationships that I forged along the way,” he said.

He still cherishes the relationships he formed as a student at Winthrop, namely his fraternity brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, of which he is a founding father of the current chapter on campus.

“Those bonds that I formed with that group of guys is still just as strong as it was 35 plus years ago,” he said. The friends, Bazemore said, now all have grown children that have graduated college and they still share stories – like the time he drove Bob Hope to the airport after an appearance on campus or how he helped setup for the Jimmy Buffet concert at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Bazemore lives in Savannah, Georgia, with his wife, Karen, of 22 years and has four children: Fletcher (29), Duncan (27), Hudson (15) and Kalla (12).

 

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