BUIES CREEK, North Carolina – After a special portrait unveiling ceremony today, the patrons of Wiggins Memorial Library at Campbell University are greeted by more than just the smell of coffee from the campus Starbucks as they cross through the library’s entryway.
A new portrait depicting Campbell’s third president, Norman A. Wiggins, and his wife, Mildred “Millie” Harmon Wiggins now resides in the library to honor and commemorate the Wiggins’ service and dedication to the university over the past forty years.
“This is a great day. It’s part of our heritage, it’s a part of our present, and also with this, we look forward to the future knowing that contributions like those of the Wiggins will be with us,” said Campbell President J. Bradley Creed.
Wiggins served as president of Campbell from 1967-2003. Under his leadership, Campbell achieved university status with a thriving and respected four-year undergraduate liberal arts program as well as five professional schools: Norman A. Wiggins School of Law, Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, and Campbell Divinity School.
In addition, Wiggins established Campbell’s award-winning Army ROTC program in 1971; satellite campuses at Fort Liberty, Camp Lejeune, and Research Triangle Park in Raleigh; and a degree program in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Wiggins’ wife, the former Mildred Harmon served as Campbell University’s first lady for 37 years. A Campbell alumna, she taught in the Rocky Mount and Winston-Salem public school systems. In 1998, she received the Campbell’s Alumni Service Award followed by an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2007.