RALEIGH, N.C. – With a generous gift of $100K, Ben and Patrice Thompson have guaranteed the future availability of the recently created Achievement Scholarship. A Double Camel and law school charter class member, Thompson has previously served as the Campbell University Board of Trustees Chairman and a member of the Campbell Law Board of Visitors.
Beginning with the 2016-17 academic year, The Ben & Patrice Thompson Achievement Scholarship will be offered annually to one high-achieving student who has overcome significant obstacles in life, such as socio-economic or educational hardships, disabilities or other major challenges. The scholarship will be automatically renewable each year provided the student remains in good academic standing. It marks one of Campbell Law’s four competitive full-tuition scholarships.
“Few people have done as much for Campbell University and our law school in particular as Ben Thompson, and this surprise gift just left me speechless,” said Campbell Law Dean J. Rich Leonard. “The generosity of Ben and Patrice ensures that moving forward one new student each year that has overcome significant obstacles in life while have the opportunity to pursue their dream of using the law as a calling to serve others for the remainder of their life.”
Thompson received his undergraduate degree cum laude from Campbell in 1976 and earned his Juris Doctor in 1979. In 1997, he joined Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton, LLP in Raleigh as a partner and chairman of the Litigation Practice Section. Prior to that, he practiced law in Harnett County for 18 years.
Thompson has extensive trial experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, representing government contracting, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and technology companies. He has been recognized in Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, Business North Carolina Magazine Legal Elite, North Carolina Super Lawyers, and Best Lawyers in America.
During his tenure as chairman of the University Board of Trustees, Campbell experienced considerable growth in its programs and facilities, which has included the opening of the School of Osteopathic Medicine, School of Nursing, Physician Assistant and Physical Therapy Programs, and the School of Engineering. Thompson also served as the chairman of the Presidential Search Committee for Campbell’s 5th President, selecting Dr. J. Bradley Creed to succeed Dr. Jerry Wallace. Based upon his professional achievements and his love and service of Campbell, he received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010. Last March he was honored with the James Iredell Award by Campbell Law’s Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW:
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law School has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. The school has twice received the Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association, honoring its First-Year Professionalism Development Series in 2003 and the Connections mentorship program in 2016. The school has also been recognized by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 3,900 alumni, including more than 3,000 who reside and work in North Carolina. In September 2009, Campbell Law relocated to a state-of-the-art building in downtown Raleigh. For more information, visit http://law.campbell.edu.
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