CBA Alumnus Makes $10 Million Gift to Fordham

Joan M. and Robert E. Campbell
Photograph courtesy of the Campbell family

Robert E. Campbell, CBA ’55, and Joan M. Campbell, made a gift of $10 million to Fordham in December, among the largest gifts in the University’s history. Fordham will recognize the Campbells’ leadership by naming a new Rose Hill dormitory Campbell Hall.

“Joan and I feel very fortunate to share our blessings with those who will have the opportunity in the future to live the Fordham experience and build on the legacy of all who have gone before them,” Campbell said about the gift.

The Campbells had previously donated almost $2.4 million to the University. Robert Campbell is a former chairman of the Fordham University trustees and received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Fordham in 1999.

“For more than two decades, Robert E. and Joan M. Campbell have been strong supporters of Fordham,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Already distinguished by their generosity, their service and their dedication to the University, with this gift the Campbells establish an enduring legacy. Students at Fordham now, and generations of students to come, will be the beneficiaries of the Campbells’ vision and devotion to Fordham and its mission.”

Robert E. Campbell was vice chairman of the board of directors of Johnson & Johnson, where he also was chairman of the professional sector, from 1989 until his retirement in 1995. He joined the firm in 1955, and later served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force for three years, returning to Johnson & Johnson in 1959. During his career, he held numerous positions in financial and general management including treasurer, vice president finance (chief financial officer) and executive committee member. Campbell was elected to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation board of trustees in 1984, and served as its chairman from 1999 to 2005. He is chairman of the board of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and New Brunswick Affiliated Hospitals.

Joan M. Campbell is a graduate of The College of New Jersey and vice president and treasurer of the Campbell Family Foundation. After a period of teaching elementary school, she focused her efforts on the Campbells’ four children, their spouses and nine grandchildren.

“Robert E. Campbell is one of the true gentlemen of Fordham, and a living example of the kind of person Fordham seeks to graduate: kind, compassionate and civic-minded,” said Jeffrey L. Gray, vice president for student affairs. “Both he and Joan Campbell have been generous with their time and resources. The Campbells stand out as shining role models to our current students—and those yet to come—representing all that is good about Fordham, and all that our students can become.”