Wells Fargo expands scholarship fund for trust majors with $50K gift

Left to right: Keith Faulkner, incoming dean of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business; Jimmy Witherspoon, director of Campbell’s Trust & Wealth Management Program; Les Quock, senior vice president and managing director of Wells Fargo Investment & Fiduciary Services; and John Elliott, director of Wells Fargo N.C. Trust Center. | Photo by Wayne Thompson of Wells Fargo

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Wells Fargo Private Bank has donated $50,000 to Campbell University to expand a fund it established last year that provides scholarships for students in the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business’ Trust & Wealth Management Program.

The bank initially established the Wells Fargo Trust Scholarship in September 2012 with a $25,000 gift to aid trust majors at Campbell, with first preference for female and/or minority students.

“We are very proud of the talented students that we have hired from Campbell’s Trust & Wealth Management Program,” said John Elliott, manager of the North Carolina Trust Center in Winston Salem for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “These students have chosen an exciting career and have received exceptional training that will set them on a course to be successful in the trust and wealth management profession.

“It is fitting that Wells Fargo is investing in a program that is preparing talent for the next generation of wealth management professionals.”

Wells Fargo presented a check for the new $50,000 contribution on Monday at Wells Fargo’s North Carolina Trust Center before more than 100 juniors and seniors in the School of Business who were visiting the center to learn more about career opportunities. Keith Faulkner, who assumes the deanship of the School of Business on Jan. 1 when Benjamin Hawkins retires, and Jimmy Witherspoon, director of the Trust & Wealth Management Program, accepted the check on Campbell’s behalf.

“This is a wonderful demonstration of Wells Fargo’s continuing commitment to the university, to the Trust & Wealth Management Program and, most importantly, to our students,” Witherspoon, said. “Thanks to this very generous contribution, Wells Fargo is enabling students at Campbell to fulfill their dreams.”

Lourdes Ros, a fifth-year student at Campbell, became the first recipient of the scholarship this year. She is a trust major in the 3/2 program, which allows students to add on a fifth year of study to earn an MBA. She was a member of Campbell’s tennis team from 2009-2013 and captain for three seasons, and was named to conference All-Academic teams in each of her four seasons. She interned with Wells Fargo this past summer.

“This scholarship means a great deal to me,” Ros said. “Deciding to pursue a master’s degree came with a big financial burden, and this helps soften that.

“It is an honor to be the first recipient of the Wells Fargo scholarship,” she added. “Wells Fargo is a great organization and I am thankful for its help and all the support and loyalty it has shown to our trust program over the years.”

Campbell is the only university in the U.S. to offer an undergraduate degree in trust and wealth management. Former Campbell President Norman Adrian Wiggins, who was once a trust officer and expert in trust law, established the program at the university in 1967. These days, 45 to 50 students graduate from Campbell with a trust degree each year – many of whom also graduate with an MBA thanks to the 3/2 program. Nearly all trust majors complete at least one summer internship at major banks such as Wells Fargo, and many also go on to work at one. The job placement rate for Campbell’s trust majors is above 90 percent.

“It has been an honor for the trust program to partner with our friends at Wells Fargo (or their predecessor banks) for over 40 years,” Witherspoon said. “We are very proud to have literally hundreds of Campbell trust alumni serving their clients throughout the nation as associates of Wells Fargo.”