Former Dean Leaves $816,000 to College of Education

The late Dr. Gene Virginia Campbell, a career educator who influenced the education of thousands of teachers and through them, students, bequeathed her estate of $816,615 to UALR’s College of Education, Bob Denman, director of UALR’s Office of Development, said. Campbell, dean of education at the college for 18 years, died in 2005 at age 74. Her gift will support faculty research and travel as well as student scholarships. “Gene Campbell was a consummate educator,” said Dr. Angela Sewall, the current UALR dean of education. “She cared deeply about the important role we play in the preparation of the highest quality personnel for schools. “Her high standards for herself and others were evident in her work. She will continue to provide for that excellence through this magnificent bequest to our students, our faculty and, through them, to the students of Arkansas who are touched by our faculty and graduates.” Throughout the 1980s when Arkansas revamped its public education system – an overhaul pushed by then-governor Bill Clinton and that propelled him as a national political figure – Campbell pressed the legislature for tough standards for teacher quality, including effective screening procedures for students entering teacher education programs. “I would not have agreed to help develop the new program if it were just a program to put warm bodies in the classroom,” she said at the time. Campbell was named dean of the UALR’s School of Education in 1980, following a career as dean of education at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. She received her doctor of education degree from the University of Houston, a master of education degree from George Peabody College of Teachers, a bachelor’s of arts from University of Southwestern Louisiana, and post-graduate study at Lamar University, USL, Stanford, National Graduate University, University of Texas, and George Mason University. A native of Norfolk, Va., Campbell is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Harry and Mizuko Campbell of Houston, and three nieces and nephews. “She left an great legacy of learning for future teachers and the entire field of education, and that legacy will continue,” said UALR Chancellor Joel E. Anderson.