Leigh Payson Campbell ‘64, a longtime director of financial aid at �ֲ���ý whose empathy and expertise engendered gratitude and loyalty among generations of �ֲ���ý alumni, died on July 31, 2020, at age 79.

Appointed as director of financial aid in 1973, Campbell retired in 2016. 

President Clayton Spencer said in her announcement to the college community that Campbell was “an empathetic and expert financial adviser to thousands of students and their families” who helped make the financial aid process “less daunting. He showed students the path forward when they felt stuck, and instilled hope and confidence when there was fear and uncertainty.”

Campbell was born in Bath, Maine, and raised in Wiscasset, where he lived most of his life and where his father ran an American Oil Co. gas station and chaired the board of selectmen and his mother served as town treasurer.

He was admitted to �ֲ���ý, Bowdoin, and Colby out of Wiscasset Academy and chose �ֲ���ý due to the connection he felt with legendary Dean of Admissions Milton Lindholm ’35, who would later hire Campbell to his staff. 

He majored in history and was active in student life, including four years as manager and scorer for the men’s basketball team, a job that foreshadowed his long connection to the sport and its athletes. He also served as football team manager, president of the Choral Society, sportswriter for The �ֲ���ý Student, and a proctor in Smith Hall. 

After college, he taught public school in Maine and New Hampshire before being drafted into the U.S. Army and serving in Vietnam. He worked briefly as an accountant after his military service before joining the �ֲ���ý staff.

Bill Hiss ’66, who served as dean of the �ֲ���ý admission and financial aid offices from the late 1970s into the 1990s, says that Campbell’s effectiveness was partly due to his being a “thoughtful and fair and reflective listener.” Importantly, that meant that parents and students always felt heard.

“In all my years, I never once heard a student or parent tell me that Leigh did not offer them his full attention and his complete respect,” Hiss says. “They might complain about the amount of their award, but no student or parent ever said that Leigh was unwilling to listen.”

An emotional Leigh Campbell receives the Alumni Association’s Helen A. Papaioanou ’49 Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2016.

For some �ֲ���ý parents, especially in the era before email and the internet, Campbell might be the only �ֲ���ý person they ever spoke to. “My father knew two people at �ֲ���ý: Leigh Campbell and my French adviser, Mary Rice-DeFosse,” recalls Sean Findlen ‘99, chief communications officer at �ֲ���ý. “My dad would be on the phone with Leigh for hours talking about our situation. He would get off the phone and say, ‘I think we can make this work.’”

In Vietnam, Campbell was the company clerk for a medical unit, like the fictional Radar O’Reilly from the TV show MASH. Like the TV character, Campbell would, during his �ֲ���ý career, work doggedly within the system to get things done for the people he cared deeply about.

“Leigh understood he was part of a system of rules and policies. He lived in a world of layers of regulation, and he knew how to work within that reality,” said Hiss. “Leigh did the work that �ֲ���ý needed to be done. And did it brilliantly.”

Among the generations of alumni who received �ֲ���ý financial aid under Campbell’s watch — and benefited from his abilities — many will say, “I would not be where I am today without Leigh Campbell.” 

Heather Beebe ’85 is one. She recalls how, “on more than one occasion during my �ֲ���ý tenure, I showed up at Leigh’s door, quite embarrassed, hat in hand. It was a terrible feeling having to ask for the money to stay at �ֲ���ý. 

“But this awkwardness was immediately assuaged by Leigh’s empathy and compassion. We always came up with a solution that kept me feeling whole, reminding me that I was — and am — part of the greater �ֲ���ý family.”

While compassionate and solution-focused, Leigh was also a firm steward of the college’s resources, vigilant to ensure that scholarship aid went to families according to their financial need. “He was no pushover,” says Wendy Glass, director of student financial services. 

“He subscribed firmly to the belief that paying for college was a shared endeavor, with families being the first ones responsible, to the extent of their ability. While Leigh believed in the philosophy and integrity of the formula behind the need calculation, he was also guided by what families shared with him. Financial aid is an art and a science, and Leigh was a master practitioner of both.” 

“Leigh Campbell didn’t like the spotlight, but he was a steady, loyal, humble, and exemplary financial aid practitioner,” says Ronald Milliken, director of financial aid at the University of Maine at Farmington and president of the Maine Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Attending various financial aid conferences in New England over the years, Milliken witnessed the high regard alumni had for Campbell in his “well-deserved following of �ֲ���ý alumni, who would show up from surrounding areas at various conferences with tickets to sporting events and dinner excursions. It was quite evident that Leigh was beloved by many who he had served well over the years.”

Leigh was a member of the Mount David Society and College Key, the college’s leadership annual giving program and its honorary alumni organization, respectively. He received the Key’s Distinguished Service Award for faculty and staff in 2005. The organization’s scholarship program is now named the College Key Leigh P. Campbell Scholarship ’64 Fund. In 2007 he received the Harward Center’s Staff Award for Community Volunteerism and Leadership, and in 2016 the Alumni Association’s Helen A. Papaioanou ’49 Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Campbell was a sports fan, and including his student years, Leigh was the official scorer for the �ֲ���ý men’s basketball team for nearly 50 years, also scoring games for the women’s teams at times. He was also a longtime scorekeeper for the Maine high school basketball tournament. 

He was inducted into the �ֲ���ý College Scholar-Athlete Society in 2012 for his “lifetime of service to this college, his bottomless love for �ֲ���ý sports, and his unequaled decades of commitments to our basketball teams and friendships with our players.” In 2019, he was inducted into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame as a Legend of the Game. 

When Jon Furbush ’05 arrived at �ֲ���ý from South Portland High School in the fall of 2001, Campbell was one of the first people he met. “He reached out, said he just wanted to introduce himself and offer any support that I needed.

“When you meet a man like Leigh for the first time, you immediately think, ‘Wow, this is such an amazing place with a lot of genuine people. I think a lot of people have Leigh to thank for how we feel about �ֲ���ý.”

While Furbush recalls the initial meeting, he did not make the connection that the guy who reached out to him was the guy who would score his �ֲ���ý games. “As an 18 year old, the last thing you’re thinking about is like, who’s keeping the book at the table.”

But slowly, Furbush understood what Campbell meant to �ֲ���ý and his team, and how deep Campbell’s knowledge ran when it came to Maine students.

As Furbush’s first season unfolded, he noticed how Campbell was always in Alumni Gym “super-early. I’d come in an hour and a half early to get my shots up and stretch and everything. And Leigh was there, getting all the names in the book and everything organized.”

After a few games, Furbush had two thoughts. First was, “Wow, this is like a big deal for this guy.” And the second was, “He’s one of us. He’s doing his routine, and he’s part of the program. And so it was early on, I realized he’s a huge and important piece of the operation here in Bobcat basketball.”

In an oral history, Campbell explained why he loved scoring �ֲ���ý games. Part of it was ability — he was good with numbers and details. But most of all, he wanted to participate in some way.

“Athletically, I wasn’t skilled enough to play, but I wanted to be part of the team,” he said. “I was good at it. You have to be — you have to have concentration to keep score of a game. You’ve got to write things down as they happen, and you have to be right, and you have to be ready to answer questions about it if necessary. For me, it was a chance to say, ‘I was part of a team.’”

In 2008, when Furbush became the youngest head basketball coach in the NCAA, he made sure that Campbell would continue with the program. “I was like, “Leigh, I want you involved in every part of this. I would’ve felt weird to get on the bus and Leigh Campbell wasn’t in the first seat.”

It’s been said that Campbell has been invited to more alumni weddings than almost any other �ֲ���ý person.

“He was at mine, and he was at my teammates’ weddings,” says Furbush. “And that’s because he was involved with not just the players, but parents of the players.”

With a laugh, he recalls planning the seating arrangements for his wedding reception dinner, and the question was where should Campbell sit. “He was like the easiest person to put at a table because he knew everybody who was going to be in the wedding. We’re like, ‘Leigh is camouflage. We can put him any at any table here and he’s going to blend in and be great.’” 

Campbell was good at creating “intentional experiences” with his many friends, Furbush says, “whether it was going to a Red Sox game or going to the Final Four, or just doing things with people that he felt close with in his life, creating those memories with people.”

Here’s a final memory from Furbush: “Leigh had the best handshake of all time. He was not a big guy, but he would make sure he had the upper hand when he shook your hand. It was something that I always really enjoyed. Just shaking his hand.”

Campbell served as secretary and treasurer of the Maine Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and in 2007 became one of its few Lifetime Honorary Members. He was a member of the First Congregational Church Wiscasset UCC and the Wiscasset Fire Society. 

Survivors include his brother, Terry Campbell; two nieces; several great-nieces; and their families. A celebration of Leigh’s life will be held at a later date.

Joyce White Vance ’82

Paul Manafort’s day in court spells trouble for Trump — The Washington Post

In recent months, the news media have often turned to Joyce White Vance ’82 to explain legal maneuverings in the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

Law professor and former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance ’82 speaks during a 2016 �ֲ���ý panel on criminal justice reform in Maine. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

A contributor to MSNBC and quoted frequently in outlets like NBC News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post,�� Vance served as a U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017 and is now a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at Culverhouse School of Law at the University of Alabama. on March 21.

As Politico noted in a story last summer about , their job is to “try to bring sanity to the whirlwind of information” about various aspects of the Mueller probe.

Most recently, Vance has helped untangle issues raised by the news that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors after his plea deal.

“The open question is whether Manafort was freelancing or whether others from the campaign were involved” in contacts with the Russians in 2016, Vance tells The Washington Post.

• Related:����“,”��The Washington Post,��Feb. 14, 2019
• Related: “,”���ʴDZ����پ�����,��July 2, 2019��
• By Vance: “” Just Security, Feb. 5, 2019

Caroline Baumann ’87 and Erik Kondo ’87

Designing for Everyone — World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

Caroline Baumann ’87 is director of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, in New York City, and she opened her presentation on inclusive design at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, by talking about her classmate Erik Kondo ’87.

In this excerpt from her address at the 2019 World Economic Forum talk, Caroline Baumann ’87 sends a message about inclusive design by sharing the example of her �ֲ���ý classmate Erik Kondo ’87.

Kondo has used a wheelchair since he was in a motorcycle accident as a �ֲ���ý student. A “keen” avid athlete before and after his accident, he participates in a range of sports, including snowboarding and martial arts, and he has also created an electric skateboard adapted for wheelchair users.

“He was not going to let this accident, or being in a wheelchair, restrict him,” said Baumann.

At the Lynch Family Skatepark in Boston, Erik Kondo ’87 rides an electric skateboard he designed. (Edward Boches)

Baumann used a quote from Kondo that urges designers to prioritize users’ agency as they create products for people with disabilities:

“We are the pilots, not the passengers.”

“Equal access is a human rights issue,” Baumann said. “Diversity is humanity’s greatest asset. But inclusion is our greatest challenge.”

• Watch Baumann’s talk: ,” weforum.org, Jan. 22, 2019

Alexandra Baldwin ’93

Alexandra Baldwin named Web.com Tour president — The Florida Times-Union

The Florida Times-Union reported that Alexandra Baldwin ’93 is the first woman to head a PGA Tour global circuit.

She was appointed president of the , a circuit of 27 tournaments that is the “primary path to PGA Tour membership,” wrote reporter Garry Smits. Baldwin was previously vice president of marketing partnerships at PGA Tour and has been a sports management executive for many years.

Baldwin told Smits she is excited to help up-and-coming golfers qualify for PGA Tour membership.

“I have an appreciation and understanding of the tremendous challenges they face on that journey,” she said. “I love working with people and developing relationships, and I think it’s important to listen to them about their goals and aspirations. There are some great success stories out there and we want to see more.”

• Read the story: “,” The Florida Times-Union, Jan. 30, 2019

Denali Nalamalapu ’17

What we take for granted —��Maine Sunday Telegram��

For “Meetinghouse,” the Maine Sunday Telegram’s monthly storytelling project, Denali Nalamalapu ’17 wrote about how living in Miri, Malaysia, on a Fulbright award changed her relationship with water.

Denali Nalamalapu ’17 teaches in Miri, Malaysia, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. (Courtesy of Denali Nalamalapu)

A native of Falmouth, Maine, Nalamalapu grew up drinking water that “runs clear, cool and sweet from our well,” she wrote. In Miri, where the water is unsafe to drink, she first boiled tap water and then stocked up on filtered water in the city center; she never wasted a single glass.

“So often we take for granted that which is seemingly effortlessly present in our lives,” she wrote. “We forget to acknowledge the labor involved in maintaining that illusion.”

• Read the story: “” Maine Sunday Telegram, Feb. 7, 2019

Leigh Campbell ’64

Campbell elected to the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame — Maine media

The Maine media reported on the induction of Leigh Campbell ’64 into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame coming up in August.

Entering the hall as one of this year’s seven “Legends of the Game,” Campbell was the official �ֲ���ý basketball scorer for nearly 50 years and was also the official scorer for the annual Maine high school basketball tournament for decades.

“Leigh Campbell represents the hundreds of unsung heroes that make basketball special in Maine,” the citation reads.

Revered at �ֲ���ý for supporting generations of students on financial aid, Campbell retired as director of financial aid at �ֲ���ý in 2007. He received the Helen A. Papaioanou ’49 Distinguished Alumni Service Award at Reunion in 2016.

• Read the story: “,” Sun Journal, Feb. 6, 2019

Ron Ward ’71

Ron Ward, Falmouth: Make a new plan, Stan — Maine Sunday Telegram

Ron Ward ’71 also contributed a personal essay to Meetinghouse, about how, when he was a �ֲ���ý sophomore, his father left the family, forcing Ward, his mother, and his three siblings to fend for themselves.

Ward wrote that family friends immediately stepped up, helping his 8-year-old sister and infant brother feel a sense of stability during a time of great and unexpected change.

“The enormous help and generosity from our friends, our town, my mother’s employer, my college, much of it spontaneous, were our keys,” Ward wrote.

“Mainers with no direct stake in this outcome allowed this result.”

• Read the story: “” Maine Sunday Telegram, Jan. 17, 2019

Don Dearborn

This bird attracts his Valentine with his heart-shaped red throat sac — Geek.com

It takes the great frigatebird about 15 to 30 minutes to inflate its throat sac. (Charles J. Sharp, Wikimedia Commons)

Geek.com writer Simone Scully turned to Professor of Biology Don Dearborn to explain how the great frigatebird uses a giant inflatable red throat sac to attract a mate.

“Lots of birds have colorful ornaments, which can be colored feathers or unfeathered, exposed patches of colored skin, but the inflatable aspect of the frigate throat is unusual,” Dearborn told Scully.

When the breeding season rolls around, the frigatebird “inflates this red throat pouch, often in groups with other males, while also quivering his wings, tilting his head back, and clattering his bill as he calls out to the females that circle above him,” Scully wrote.

• Read the story: “,” Geek.com, Feb. 13, 2019

Joshua Macht ’91

How the podcast juggernaut took off — The Boston Globe

For readers of The Boston Globe, Joshua Macht ’91 laid out the current landscape of podcasts, a storytelling medium that has seen explosive growth in the past five years.

“So often, technology and capitalism push us toward ever fancier stuff,” Macht wrote.

“Yet as we ponder how technology changes society, it’s easy to overlook how human beings affect technology. A new entertainment format takes off only when it fits easily into our lives.

“For the moment, audio — with its modest production values and small files that transfer efficiently even over 2013-era phone networks — is doing just that.”

• Read the story: ”,”��The Boston Globe,��Jan. 16, 2019

At the Annual Gathering of the Alumni Association on June 11 during Reunion, five alumni were honored for their contributions to the college, including retired Director of Financial Aid Leigh Campbell ’64 receiving the college’s distinguished alumni service award.

Leigh Campbell ’64: Helen A. Papaioanou ’49 Distinguished Alumni Service Award

The citation for Campbell’s award read, in part:

If you ask alumni from the mid-1970s to the early-2000s about their �ֲ���ý experience, you’ll hear a constant refrain: “My family and I wouldn’t have been able to afford college without Leigh Campbell. He made �ֲ���ý possible.” In his 39 years of service as a financial aid officer at �ֲ���ý, most of that time as director, Leigh became a trusted confidant, adviser, and friend to thousands of students.

Catherine “Cat” Djang ’13: David G. Russell ’66 Alumni-in-Admission Award

Cat Djang ’13 (center), recipient of the David G. Russell Alumni-in-Admission Award at Reunion on June 11, poses with President of the Alumni Association Michael Lieber ’92 and President of �ֲ���ý College Clayton Spencer. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

The citation for Djang’s award read, in part:

Cat, you have been a selfless, highly engaging ambassador for the �ֲ���ý Admission Office in the New York City area. Building on your success as a fellow in the Admission Office…you show prospective students and their families the power of a �ֲ���ý education through your own accomplishments — as a member of the College Key, the award-winning Brooks Quimby Debate Council, and now a student at Columbia Law School.

Jill Kopicki Blankenhorn ’03: David G. Russell ’66 Alumni-in-Admission Award

Jill Kopicki Blankenhorn ’03 (center), recipient of the David G. Russell Alumni-in-Admission Award at Reunion on June 11, poses with President of the Alumni Association Michael Lieber ’92 and President of �ֲ���ý College Clayton Spencer. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

The citation for Blankenhorn’s award read, in part:

Jill, you have been a critical part of the college’s outreach to prospective students in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Utah, and New Mexico — attending admission fairs and meeting with individuals to educate them about the strength of �ֲ���ý’ academic programs as well as our distinctive history and values.

Bradley McGraw ’10: Distinguished Young Alumni Award

Bradley McGraw ’10 (center), recipient of the Distinguished Young Alumni Award at Reunion on June 11, poses with President of the Alumni Association Michael Lieber ’92 and President of �ֲ���ý College Clayton Spencer. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

The citation for McGraw’s award read, in part:

Since graduating magna cum laude with a degree in economics, Bradley has never failed to make time for �ֲ���ý or to encourage other New York City-based young alumni to volunteer for the college. His own lengthy record of service includes ongoing work as a BCDC Career Adviser…and he has also been a highly engaged member of the New York City Signature Event Host Committee, his Reunion Committee, and his Reunion Gift Committee.

Diane “Dinny” Felt Swett ’56: �ֲ���ý’ Best Award

Diane Felt Swett ’56 (center), recipient of a �ֲ���ý’ Best Award at Reunion on June 11, poses with President of the Alumni Association Michael Lieber ’92 and President of �ֲ���ý College Clayton Spencer. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

The citation for Swett’s award read, in part:

Dinny, as the lead class agent for the Class of 1956, you have done a marvelous job leading a large team of class agents to success. Under your leadership, your class now stands at a record-breaking 90 percent Reunion Gift participation — well on its way to your personal goal of seeing 100 percent of your classmates give to �ֲ���ý this year.

Panelists for the session include Jane Armstrong, assistant director of undergraduate admissions, Tulane University; Leigh Campbell, director of financial aid, �ֲ���ý College; Dean Jacoby, director of guidance, St. John’s International School, Belgium; and Linda Matzen, guidance counselor, Edward Little High School. The discussion will be moderated by Wylie Mitchell, dean of admissions at �ֲ���ý College. Brief presentations by the panelists will be followed by a question-and-answer session.