MANHATTAN — Robert "Bob" Campbell was a self-made man who took advantage of opportunities others may have missed. Through his Kansas State University education, tenacity and self-taught start in the oil business, he was able to build a lucrative career.
As part of his estate plan, Campbell, who died in March 2021, established a $17 million scholarship and recognition fund to help the next generation of K-State students launch their own successful careers and inspire others to support the university. The Robert E. Campbell Opportunity Scholarship and Robert E. Campbell Opportunity Scholars Recognition Fund is in addition to a $1 million gift Campbell made to the College of Business Administration in 2018.
"Because Bob started from scratch, he cared about others and wanted to help kids," said Kent Sedlacek, senior director of gift, estate and trust planning at the KSU Foundation. "His gift to K-State was how he could make a difference in students' lives and in the university. He delighted in both being generous and doing things his own way."
Campbell was a first-generation student who studied business administration at K-State via the GI Bill after serving in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps, a precursor to the U.S. Air Force. After his 1950 graduation from K-State, he sold bonds before eventually researching how the oil business worked. In 1963, he launched his own company, Robert E. Campbell Oil and Gas Operations in Wichita, which he operated for 56 years.
At his 2016 induction into K-State's College of Business Administration Distinguished Business Leaders Hall of Fame, Campbell said, "Kansas State University is where I grew intellectually and as a person." Then he encouraged students to apply themselves and nurture their ideas toward their own goals.