Longtime Campbell University President Dies

During his 36 years at Campbell, the school established five professional schools -- the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Pharmacy and the Divinity School -- and he led Campbell College's move to university status in 1979.

The Burlington native served in the Marines in World War II and later earned two bachelor's degrees from Wake Forest College and a master's and a doctorate in law from Columbia University School of Law. He briefly worked with Planters Bank and Trust before teaching law and serving as general counsel at Wake Forest College.

At Campbell, Wiggins launched a nationally recognized trust management degree program and was a pioneer in offering education opportunities to military installations, including Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, New River Air Base and Camp Lejeune, and developing international educational programs. His most notable international venture was the creation of the partnership between Campbell and Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia more than 25 years ago.

Wiggins has served as president of the North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Association of College and University Attorneys, the Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities and the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Universities.

He also served as president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board and the National Fellowship of Men, and he was named one of the Most Influential Baptist Leaders of the 20th Century by the Biblical Recorder.

Wiggins is survived by his wife, Millie.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday in the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business on Campbell's campus. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in Turner Auditorium in the D. Rich Building, followed by interment at Buies Creek Cemetery.