Nancy and Colin Campbell named 2008 Prentis recipients for civic work
(Williamsburg, Va.) – Nancy and Colin
Campbell have been named the College of William and Mary’s 2008 Prentis
Award recipients for their civic work in the Williamsburg and College
communities. Colin is the president and chief executive officer of the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and his wife, Nancy, is the chairman
emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Campbells
will receive the honor during a ceremony and reception held in their
honor on May 8 at the College.
"The Campbells have been invaluable friends of both Williamsburg and
William and Mary," said W. Taylor Reveley III, interim president of the
College. "Our community is a far better place for having Nancy and
Colin in our midst. We are thrilled to honor them with the Prentis
Award."
Prentis Awards are given annually to community members whose civic
involvement benefits the community and the College. The award is named
in honor of the Williamsburg family whose 18th-century shop on Duke of
Gloucester Street was a hub of colonial life. Members of the Prentis
family have been friends of the College and the community since 1720,
when the store was first established in Williamsburg. Last year, State
Sen. Tommy Norment (R-3rd) received the honor.
Colin G. Campbell was appointed to his current position with
the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in April 2000. He was elected a
member of the foundation’s Board of Trustees in 1989 and served as its
chairman from 1998 to February 2008. Before beginning his work with the
foundation, he served as the president of the Rockefeller Brothers
Fund, president of Wesleyan University for 18 years, vice president of
the Planning and Government Affairs Division of the American Stock
Exchange, and an associate at the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood
in Connecticut.
Colin has long been involved in community work, including most recently
by serving as the vice chair of the steering committee and member of
the management committee of Jamestown 2007. He is also a current
trustee for the College’s Mason School of Business Foundation, a
director of WHRO and of the Virginia Foundation for Community College
Education. He has been a member of several corporate boards and
currently works as chairman of Rockefeller and Company. He has received
honorary degrees from 11 colleges and universities, and he received the
DeWitt Clinton Medal from the New-York Historical Society.
Nancy N. Campbell currently serves as a trustee and vice chair of the
Williamsburg Community Health Foundation and is a director of The
Montpelier Foundation. She also serves on the Trusteeship and
Governance Committee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation,
as vice chairman and commissioner of the Jamestown 400th Commemoration
commission, as a trustee of the Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy and
as a trustee of Historic Hudson Valley.
Nancy previously served as chairman of the National Trust for
Historical Preservation’s Campaign for Historic Places. She was elected
to its board of trustees in 1989, serving as its vice chairman from
1993 to 1996 and its chairman from 1996 to 1999. She was the chairman
of the trust’s Board of Advisors from 1987 to 1989 and of its Heritage
Society from 1995 to 1996. For her years of preservation work, she has
received numerous awards, including the Louise DuPont Crowninshield
Award from the National Trust and the DeWitt Clinton Medal from the
New-York Historical Society. She was also awarded an honorary degree
from Wesleyan University in 2000.
A native of Virginia, Nancy earned her undergraduate degree from
Hollins College (now University) and her master’s degree in
architecture and urban studies from Wesleyan University. Born in New
York City and raised in Connecticut, Colin received his undergraduate
degree from Cornell University and his law degree from Columbia
University. The couple currently lives in Williamsburg, and they have
four adult children and six grandchildren.
