Longtime UNC Charlotte professor who guided students on complex topics dies at 60
When Tonderai Mushipe walked into his research design class at UNC Charlotte in August 2017, he was feeling the nerves.
The rigorous course is aimed at helping students draft their first proposal for a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. But when Mushipe, a geography and earth sciences PhD student, walked into the classroom for the first time he was met with a smile from his professor, Harry Campbell.
“There he is...” Mushipe recalls Campbell saying when he walked in. Mushipe immediately felt at ease.
Campbell, who died at age 60 this month after 25 years at the university, left similar impressions on his students.
He was known to provide thorough, detailed feedback on complex coursework but could also just as easily make those around him feel comfortable with a joke or smile.
“When thinking about Harry and the lectures I attended for his class and the pages worth of feedback he provided which were very important, what especially stands out is how he was able to make me and plenty of others feel seen and welcomed,” Mushipe wrote in an email to The Charlotte Observer.
Another student, Barbara Lash, admired Campbell’s ability to meet students at the intersection of their passion and academic rigor.
Lash, who took two classes with Campbell, focused her dissertation on Black NFL players’ journey from stigmatized communities. Campbell helped her focus the work but also keep real-world voices and stories.
“Dr. Campbell knew that was extremely important to me,” Lash wrote in an email, “to have structured a meticulous body of research that has tangible applications.”
Working as economic geographer
Campbell, who was born in Encino, California, but spent his formative years in Briarcliff Manor, New York, has a lengthy resume of education and published research.
As an economic geographer, Campbell’s most recent work includes papers on income and the cost of living and the impact of greenway trails on property values. His research also focused on urban and regional development and analyzing job and economic growth.
After studying geography and economics at Clark University in Massachusetts, Campbell went on to get his master’s and PhD in geography at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He came to UNC Charlotte in 1996 as an assistant professor in the department of geography and earth sciences.
Campbell was known in the field of applied geography, which focuses on how certain regions and places are shaped, said Deb Thomas, a professor and chair of the UNC Charlotte geography and earth sciences department.
Much like the field of urban planning, the field looks at “placemaking” in terms of how businesses decide where to locate, and what the impact would be on an existing neighborhood.
When Thomas came to the department four years ago, she remembers Campbell helping her navigate the new systems. What stands out to her was his commitment to students.
Over the years, Campbell partnered with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce to project local economic growth. He also helped develop new degree programs at UNC Charlotte in geography, public policy and environmental sciences.
“His door was open for students,” Thomas said. “He always had extra time.”
Campbell is survived by his wife, Terry Albanese, his stepsons, Jacob and Benjamin Gefell, his brothers, Alan (Marcia) Campbell and Drew (Karen) Campbell, sister-in-law, Connie Lappa, and nieces and nephews, Katharine and Elizabeth Campbell, Colin and Megan Campbell, and Peter and Joseph Campbell. Harry was predeceased by his first wife, Jama Mooney, his father, Harrison Sherwood Campbell, Sr., his mother, Joyce Campbell, and his brother Bruce (Connie) Campbell.
A celebration of life was held Oct. 14. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Muggsy Bogues Family Foundation or Tomorrow’s Bread.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 1:25 PM.
