William Alexander Campbell
William Alexander Campbell, Tapline's vice president of Government Relations, died of a brain tumor at the Khoury Hospital in Beirut late Friday evening, December 27.
One of the best known and most beloved Americans in the Middle East, Campbell was born October 8, 1900, in Joliet, Illinois. He graduated from Dartmouth College and obtained his Ph.D. degree in art and archeology from Princeton University in 1930.
Campbell's early career was in teaching and archeology. He was instructor of Greek at Dartmouth before becoming a part-time associate professor of archeology at Wellesley College, Mass.
In 1932 Campbell came to the Middle East as field director of an archeological committee which undertook the excavation of Antioch. This was a joint committee sponsored by Princeton University, Musees Nationale de France, Worcester Art Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Prior to his work in Antioch, which extended from 1932 to 1942, Campbell had done archeological surveys in France and Greece.
From 1942 until the end of World War II, Campbell served with the U.S. Army Middle East Command. At the end of the war he helped found the American Levant Company (Amlevco) in Beirut.
In May, 1947, Campbell joined Tapline as assistant general manager, Government and Public Relations. He became manager, Government Relations on January 1, 1951, and was elected vice president, Government Relations, by the Tapline board of directors on May 12, 1958.
Campbell is survived by his wife, Gesela, and their children.