Losing one of our own

Last Wednesday, December 14^th, Nutrition professor Marci Campbell died after courageously and gracefully living with cancer for nearly two years. She was far too young, and she should have had so much ahead of her. As news of her death reverberated around the world, the scope of Marci’s impact became clearer. Her death is incompatible with our memories of this exuberant, curious, innovative researcher who studied a breathtaking number of topics throughout her highly productive career. Dr. Campbell was a natural collaborator, and over her career, she had hundreds of collaborators from across our campus and around the world. Reducing health disparities was central to her life’s work and took her to communities around North Carolina, especially in the eastern part of our state.

Marci was one of the most committed, enthusiastic, energetic, empathic and innovative interventionists anywhere. She and her collaborators created rigorous, academic but people-friendly interventions that worked. She didn’t stop when the money stopped, and papers were published. She worked hard to get her interventions into wider circulation. Body and Soul is a great example.

Dr. Campbell’s death leaves a huge hole in our School, the centers where she conducted research (UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center) and for her family—parents Shirley and Arvin, husband Tom and children Ewan, Lee and Amy. We miss her. I miss her.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday December 20^th as detailed below.  We have created a memorial page where you can share your memories of Marci.

Memorial Service for Marci Campbell
Tuesday 12/20/2011 3:00 PM
Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (ERUUF)
4907 Garrett Road, Durham, NC 27707
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.