Colin Goetze Campbell (November 3, 1935 – June 21, 2024) was an American who served as the thirteenth president of Wesleyan University[1] and the President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.[2]

Colin G. Campbell
13th President of Wesleyan University
In office
1970 – July 31, 1988
Preceded byEdwin Etherington
Succeeded byWilliam Chace
Personal details
Born
Colin Goetze Campbell

(1935-11-03)November 3, 1935
DiedJune 21, 2024(2024-06-21) (aged 88)
SpouseNancy Nash
Parent(s)Joseph Campbell
Marjorie Goetze Campbell
Alma materCornell University
Columbia Law School

Early life

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He was the son of Joseph Campbell and the former Marjorie Louise Goetze.[3] His father was the 4th Comptroller General of the United States[4] and his mother served as president of the board of governors for the Mansfield Training School.[3] His parents divorced and his father remarried to artist and philanthropist Dorothy Stokes Bostwick, the daughter of Albert Carlton Bostwick and granddaughter of Standard Oil founding shareholder, Jabez A. Bostwick.[5]

Campbell attended Cornell University, where he served as the chairman of the Orientation Executive Committee and on the Willard Straight Hall Board of Managers. He was also elected to the Sphinx Head Society in his senior year,[6] before graduating in 1957. Campbell went on to earn a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1961.[7]

Career

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Campbell worked at the American Stock Exchange prior to becoming the executive vice president and administrative vice-president of Wesleyan University in order to fulfill his lifelong interest in serving the public good. In 1970, after Edwin Etherington left Wesleyan to make an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate as a Republican candidate from Connecticut, Campbell was elected as the university's thirteenth, and youngest, president.[7] He served as president of the university until 1988 when he was succeeded by William Chace, the former vice provost of Stanford University.[8]

Campbell left Wesleyan on July 31, 1988, to join the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a nonprofit charitable organization.[9] He latterly served as the Chairman Emeritus of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.[10]

Personal life

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Campbell was married to Nancy Nash, who later served as chair of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[11] Together, they had four children. Campbell died on June 21, 2024, at the age of 88.[12]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Presidents of Wesleyan". wesleyan.edu.
  2. ^ "Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Site".
  3. ^ a b "Mrs. Marjorie Campbell, Worked for the Retarded". The New York Times. March 14, 1973. p. 46. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. ^ Staats, Elmer B. (1967), Annual Report of the Comptroller General of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1967 (PDF), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, p. iv
  5. ^ "Joseph Campbell, U.S. Aide; Led Accounting Offive in 50's". The New York Times. 22 June 1984. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. ^ Sphinx Head
  7. ^ a b "WESLEYAN NAMES A PRESIDENT, 34; Campbell, an Administrator, Had Been Amex Official" (PDF). The New York Times. October 20, 1970. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Stanford Vice Provost Is New Wesleyan Head". The New York Times. 27 July 1988. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  9. ^ Ames, Lynne (6 October 1991). "THE VIEW FROM: POCANTICO HILLS; The Kykuit Estate Gets Ready to Greet the Public, in 1994". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Site".
  11. ^ "Nancy Nash Campbell". www.hollins.edu. Hollins University. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  12. ^ Schaffer, Sam. "Colin Campbell, former president and CEO of Colonial Williamsburg, dies at 88". dailypress.com. Daily Press. Retrieved 21 June 2024.