Jerry Wallace to step down as Campbell president in 2015
By Cherry Crayton | Photos by Bill Parrish & Bennett Scarborough
Campbell University President Jerry M. Wallace, who has led Campbell to unprecedented growth and transformed the university into a destination for leading health education and other key programs over the past 11 years, announced during a April 23 meeting of the university Board of Trustees that he will step down as president on June 30, 2015.
After a one-year sabbatical, he will transition to the honorary role and title of university chancellor.
“It is with a heavy heart that the Campbell University Board of Trustees accepts President Wallace’s request to transition to the chancellor’s role beginning July 1, 2016,” Benjamin N. Thompson, chair of the Campbell University Board of Trustees, said following the meeting. “President Wallace’s legacy is beyond measure. His leadership has truly transformed the university’s place and image among North Carolina’s leading colleges and universities.”
The search for Campbell’s fifth president in the school’s 127-year history is currently under way.
Wallace will have served Campbell for 45 years — 12 as president — when his tenure comes to an end. Back when he was introduced as president on May 29, 2003, Wallace said: “Campbell will respond to the existing and developing needs of the region, state and nation by providing new undergraduate, graduate and professional programs that complement and extend Campbell’s mission.”
Since that inauguration speech, Wallace has more than lived up to those words. Notably, Wallace has expanded Campbell’s health programs to complement its pharmacy school and to address the shortage of health professionals in North Carolina, including the establishment of a medical school. When the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine opened in the Leon Levine Hall of Medical Sciences in August 2013 with 160 students, it was North Carolina’s first new medical school in 35 years.
Other health programs launched during Wallace’s presidency include the physician assistant, public health, physical therapy, and proposed nursing programs. The Doctor of Physical Therapy program welcomed its first class of 40 students in January 2014, and the public health and physician assistant programs began in 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Also, in January 2014, the N.C. Board of Nursing granted Campbell Initial Approval Status to start a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, which enrolled 85 students for a pre-nursing seminal for the fall.
“During my time as president, my goal has been similar to that of my predecessors—remain true to the university’s founding principles and to meet the education and professional program needs of North Carolina and our students,” Wallace said.
“When I came to Campbell as an adjunct instructor in 1970, I had no idea that one day I’d be the university’s president,” Wallace said. “It has been my greatest professional honor and personal joy to work at Campbell for 44 years and serve as president for the past 11 years.”
An ordained Baptist minister and a Rockingham native, Wallace first joined Campbell in 1970 as an adjunct sociology professor while serving as a pastor of Elizabethtown Baptist Church. He began teaching full time at Campbell in 1975 and went on to serve the university in a variety of roles, including as chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, director of graduate studies, and vice president for academic affairs and provost.
#ThanksDrWallace
Throughout the fall and leading up to our spring edition of Campbell Magazine, we invite you to send us your favorite memory or story about Dr. Jerry Wallace … or simply send us your “Thank You” message, and we’ll get it published. Email Campbell Magazine Editor Billy Liggett at liggettb@campbell.edu or tag your message to Dr. Wallace on Facebook or Twitter with #ThanksDrWallace.
[The Search
Campbell’s search for its next president will begin immediately. Board Chairman Ben Thompson will lead a 13-person search committee, which plans to engage a national executive search firm. The next president is expected to be identified by spring 2015 and assume his or her duties July 1, 2015.
“The search for Campbell’s next president will be a challenging task, but we’re in a fortunate position as President Wallace has outlined an ambitious list of goals for the next five years,” said Thompson, adding there are several major initiatives in the works, including fundraising for new facilities, developing new academic programs and finalizing other projects.
Meet the search committee and learn more at campbell.edu/presidential-search]
[Sidebar:
5 highlights of President Wallace’s presidency (so far)
Jerry M. Wallace will leave quite a legacy when he steps down as president of Campbell University in June 2015 and transitions eventually to a new role as university chancellor. Here’s a look at just five of the things that have happened at Campbell during his presidency:
School of Osteopathic Medicine opens: Perhaps what will be Wallace’s biggest legacy bears his name. The Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine was his brainchild in 2009, and just four years later, Campbell’s seventh school and the state’s first new medical school in over 35 years became a reality.
Other health programs begin: The School of Osteopathic Medicine was made possible in part because of the launch of a physician assistant program at Campbell in 2011. Under Wallace’s leadership, Campbell’s entire health sciences program has grown dramatically with the additions of a Doctor of Physical Therapy, public health, and proposed nursing programs.
Campus gets upgrades: In only his second year as president, Wallace’s proposed Master Plan to upgrade campus received approval from the Board of Trustees. The biggest addition came in 2009 with the opening of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center, a $34-million, 106,000-square-foot facility that houses Gore Arena and several university sports, as well as concerts, commencements and other events.
Law school moves to Raleigh: Seeing a chance for Campbell University to position itself right in the middle of the state’s capital, Wallace led the effort beginning in 2006 to move the Norman A. Wiggins School of Law from main campus to Raleigh. Not three years later, the law school opened the doors to its new home on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, just blocks from state government buildings.
Football returns: In April 2006, Wallace announced the return of football at Campbell during an event in front of more than 1,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni. The Fighting Camels returned to the gridiron in 2008 and posted their first winning record in 2011.]