TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Lewis B. and Mary L. Campbell have pledged $150,000 to establish the Campbell-Portera Endowed Scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama.
The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., residents founded the scholarship to honor and recognize Dr. Malcolm “Mack” Portera, chancellor of The University of Alabama System, and his wife, Olivia Portera, as well as to recognize student leadership in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Priority of consideration is given to full-time college seniors who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service. Two scholarships shall be awarded annually, one to a male student and one to a female student.
Lewis Campbell is chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Rhode Island-based Textron Inc., one of the world’s largest multi-industry companies. Textron has more than 44,000 employees in nearly 40 countries and its brands include Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee.
Campbell joined Textron after nearly 25 years with General Motors. He held several executive positions with GM and came to know the Porteras when he was vice president of manufacturing in charge of GM’s Tuscaloosa Rochester Products Division.
Campbell was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from UA. He is a member of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Advisory Board.
“Two decades ago, Mack Portera helped to change Alabama’s economic landscape for the better with his visionary work as the University’s vice president of external affairs,” Campbell said. ”I was privileged to share in that economically transforming time. Mary and I wish to pay tribute to Mack and Olivia for their service with these scholarships and to inspire young Alabamians to follow their fine example.”
Mack Portera worked in The University of Alabama’s office of academic affairs and research and was executive assistant to two presidents before becoming a UA vice president. Following that, he served as vice chancellor for external affairs of The University of Alabama System, and when he retired in 1996, he launched a successful business development and strategic planning company. His industrial development activities are credited with attracting $5 billion of capital investment to the Southeast.
He was Mississippi State University’s president in the late 1990s and returned to UA in 2002 as chancellor. At MSU, Portera earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 and master’s degree in political science in 1971. A Dean’s Scholar Fellow, he holds a doctorate in political science from UA.
Olivia Portera’s work as a public school teacher has included service in Tuscaloosa schools. The Porteras are natives of West Point, Miss.
The College of Arts and Sciences is Alabama’s largest liberal arts college and the University’s largest division, with 355 faculty and 6,600 students.
Contact
Rebecca Florence, Director of College Relations, UA College of Arts and Sciences, 205/348-8663, rflorenc@as.ua.edu