Meet Our Donors
We thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.
Bob Petty
Preserving his passion through Zoo Atlanta’s Legacy Society
“It’s hard to exaggerate the contributions made by Bob Petty during his 20-plus years of service to Zoo Atlanta. He’s seen the Zoo through good times and bad, from its transition from a city-owned zoo to its rebirth into the world-class organization it is today,” said Dennis Kelly, Zoo Atlanta President and CEO.
Robert C. “Bob” Petty, a longtime Board member, joined the Board of the Friends of the Zoo in 1981. He became President of the Board and was instrumental in privatization of the Zoo in 1984. As a charter member of the Board of Directors of Zoo Atlanta, he has served in a number of roles, including Chairman, and continues as Vice Chairman to this day. Devoted to the Zoo’s efforts in conservation and education, Bob made the decision to put Zoo Atlanta in his will in the 1980s. In discussing his decision to join the Legacy Society, Bob said the following:
“There are people and institutions integral to our lives, and it seems only fitting to share our good fortune with those people and institutions that mean so much to us. Mildred and I have carefully planned what we want for our family and for the two institutions with which we have been most involved, because we care for the continuing long-term viability of those institutions. Family takes precedence, and being fair and generous to family members is important. It also seems appropriate, having had the opportunity to establish our footprint in the sands of time by being significantly involved with institutions, that we should preserve and honor our involvement with financial support. At the time when your estate can be distributed without concern for oneself it is appropriate to show gratitude for the meaning and purpose that these involvements have given to our lives.”
Dennis Kelly commented, “Bob’s leadership role in the Legacy Society demonstrates his and Mildred’s strong desire to have a lasting impact on the institution that he has served so faithfully.” Zoo Atlanta thanks Bob for his dedicated years of commitment and service.
Dr. Nelly Golarz de Bourne
Christened Maria Nelly Golarz - Maria for Madame Marie Curie – Dr. Nelly Golarz de Bourne has always been connected to science. The daughter of Polish parents, she grew up in Uruguay. As a medical student in 1958, she was awarded a fellowship to pursue her Ph.D. at Emory University, where she studied neuromuscular diseases. The Chairman of the Medical School’s Anatomy Department was her future husband, Dr. Geoffrey Bourne.
The Geoffrey Bournes lived in separate countries for the first year and a half of their marriage. (By now, she had affiliated with the Colonial Institute in Freeport, Bahamas.) Dr. Geoffrey Bourne had been appointed Director of Emory’s Yerkes Primate Research Center, and his wife joined him there in 1965 as a research scientist on a grant from NASA.
A longtime Fellow of the London Zoo, Dr. Geoffrey Bourne was equally interested in Atlanta’s zoo. His contributions to the Zoo/Yerkes partnership were realized in 1968 with a loan of Sumatran orangutans and a group of western lowland gorillas in the late 1980s. He was also instrumental in forming the Atlanta Zoological Society (AZS) in 1970, serving as Founding President; his wife was one of the organization’s original members. (Co-founders Richard Reynolds III and Dr. Duane Rumbaugh served as First Vice President and Second Vice President.) The impetus for change was there, but lack of community interest frustrated the fledgling AZS.
“There were times when we wanted to give up on the idea,” she recalls.
Neither of them ever did give up. Dr. Nelly Bourne helped organize a fundraiser – an art auction of finger-paintings by Zoo apes and famous Atlantans – as well as the first Beastly Feast in 1972. When Dr. Geoffrey Bourne retired from Emory in 1977, he and his wife accepted positions at St. George’s University in Grenada. (He had been appointed Vice Chancellor and Professor of Nutrition; she served as Dean of Women and Chairman of Histology and Cell Biology.) But their connection with Atlanta was far from over.
In the Zoo’s most difficult year – 1984 – an emergency task force appointed Dr. Terry Maple Interim Director. Dr. Maple, a former AZS Board member, had worked with Dr. Geoffrey Bourne when he had conducted behavioral research at Yerkes as a psychology professor at Emory. Dr. Bourne supported the appointment and the successes to come, remaining passionate about the Zoo until his death in 1988.
Returning to Atlanta, Dr. Nelly Bourne followed her husband’s dreams for the Zoo. In 1999, she established the Geoffrey Bourne Endowment in perpetual support of annual distinguished lectures on biology, conservation and human interest. Since then, the Bourne Lecture Series has brought the community presentations by some of the nation’s most respected scientists.
Serendipity, Dr. Bourne believes, has always left its footprint on the Zoo, especially in its leaders.
“Dr. Maple established the scientific aspect of the Zoo’s mission,” she says. “After he retired, the Zoo was so fortunate to recruit Mr. Dennis Kelly, with his skill and energy and his incredible ability to learn all aspects of the Zoo. He is committed to the continuance and growth of that scientific aspect.”
Dr. Bourne remains a devoted friend of the Zoo. Earlier this year, she joined Kelly on safari to Kenya and Tanzania. In 2005, she elected to join Zoo Atlanta’s Legacy Society.
The Zoo’s scientific foundation and mission to preserve endangered species were the primary factors influencing her decision, according to Dr. Bourne.
“Not all species are going to survive in the wild,” she says. “Someday the only survivors may be in zoos. The more we learn, the more we can do to protect animals and enable them to thrive.”
Thanks to the vision of individuals like Dr. Geoffrey Bourne, science and research found a place at Zoo Atlanta. Thanks to his wife, Dr. Nelly Bourne, science and research are here to stay.
