Campbell to retire from ASU July 1

Carol N. Campbell, ASU’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, has announced that she will retire, effective July 1, to devote more of her time and energy to her family. However, at ASU President Michael Crow’s urging, she has agreed to continue serve the university as a part-time consultant after her retirement.

Among Campbell’s many significant accomplishments at ASU, she:

• Oversaw the completion and opening of four new research facilities and a new police headquarters, and is responsible for several hundred million dollars in new construction that is in progress.

• Led campus sustainability efforts, including the construction of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified buildings, green purchasing policies and energy savings.

• Managed the development of two major student housing projects on the Tempe campus.

• Oversaw the issuance of nearly $200 million of new and refinanced bonds, while maintaining ASU’s credit rating at a level achieved by just one-quarter of public universities.

“No university has had a better chief administrative officer and CFO than ASU has had in Carol Campbell,” Crow says. “Her accomplishments in just a few short years have helped ensure the university’s future for decades to come. Although I am extremely sad that Carol has decided to step down, I know that she and her husband, Jack, have long looked forward to an active retirement, and that they finally will have the time to spend together.”

“This decision has been one of the hardest of my life,” Campbell says. “I can’t imagine a more exciting and rewarding position than the one I am leaving. Under President Crow’s leadership, ASU has become the envy of much of higher education, and its future will be even better and brighter. I’m delighted that President Crow has asked me to stay involved. But the time has come to join my husband in retirement, and to spend time with our grandchildren before it’s too late.”

Campbell also negotiated development of two major student housing projects on the Tempe Campus that will add more than 3,300 residential beds at no cost to the university. The first is Vista del Sol, an apartment-style living complex that includes a parking garage, retail shops, a community center and luxury pool. The second is Barrett College, which will house ASU’s honors college and will include classrooms, faculty offices, student social space and a dining room.

Campbell consolidated facilities management and other administrative functions across ASU’s four campuses. She reorganized the real estate management and development functions to maximize development opportunities and revenues for ASU.

Campbell also was responsible for changing the university’s focus from a campus “parking system” to a “transit system,” with emphasis on sustainability through mass transit and ride-sharing. Instead of subsidizing individual drivers and vehicles through low-cost parking, ASU now subsidizes mass transit solutions, including free bus passes for all faculty and staff members, and free shuttle service around and among ASU campuses, reducing traffic congestion, air pollution and the production of carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. ASU students and staff will use free bus passes on nearly 2 million rides this year.

Campbell came to ASU from Texas Christian University, where she was vice chancellor for finance and administration, and treasurer. Before that, she was vice president and treasurer at Carleton College and served at the University of Minnesota as controller, associate vice president and treasurer – and, finally, as acting senior vice president for finance and operations.

She began her career at Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota.

Her professional associations include: past director and chair of the investment committee, Independent 529 Plan; past director and vice president, Collegiate Association Resources of the Southwest; past chair, board of directors, National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO); past president, Central Association of College and University Business Officers (CACUBO); and past chair, TIAA-CREF Advisory Council.

Campbell and her husband, Jack, are natives of Minnesota, where he retired from high school teaching in 1990. They have six children, including two in Phoenix, one in Los Angeles and three still residing in Minnesota. Their 10 grandchildren all live in Minnesota.

“Our Minnesota house is just minutes away from our children and grandchildren,” she says. “We will spend much of the summer there, but Arizona is our real home from now on.”