Wells leads Campbell in new era of growth

     Harold Wells, founder and president of Wells Oldsmobile, Inc. in Whiteville, and an automotive industry leader, has been elected chairman of the Campbell University Board of Trustees. Wells, whose vision and accomplishments were profiled in “North Carolina” magazine, said he is eager to serve Campbell on the threshold of this new era of growth.
     “It is an honor to welcome Harold Wells back to the university’s distinguished Board of Trustees,” said Dr. Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University. “Mr. Wells’ entrepreneurial background, leadership experience and long-standing relationship with the university make him uniquely qualified to fill this critical position.”
     “The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly,” said legendary movie director Cecil B. DeMille. The same could be said of Harold Wells, a person guided by the entrepreneurial spirit even as a young boy.
     As a teenager, Wells and his brother W.S. Wells Jr. decided to go into business for themselves, opening a bicycle repair shop and starting a couple of paper routes. After taking over the bicycle repair business, Harold Wells’ interest in transportation was ignited. He attended Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College in Wilson), spent two years at General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich., and served a stint in the Army.
     Upon his return to Whiteville, Wells bought his own Oldsmobile GMC dealership with a mere $10,000, capitalizing the rest. He became president of Wells Chrysler Dodge Jeep Inc. and opened Wells Chevrolet Buick Pontiac Oldsmobile GMC, Inc. He is a past president of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association and the National Automobile Dealers Association.
     As a citizen of the community, Wells has served on the Southeastern Community College Foundation Board of Directors, the BB&T Board of Directors, the Columbus County Committee of 100 (chairman) and the NCCBI Board of Directors. For his professional and civic contributions, Wells has been honored by the Boy Scouts of America with the prestigious Silver Beaver Award and was named “Time Magazine’s” Quality Dealer of the Year for 1988. The North Carolina Civitan Club named him a Civitan District East Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 1989 and Wells received the state’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine and the Volunteer of the Year Award from the North Carolina Economic Developers Association. In addition, he served as president of the Whiteville Area Chamber of Commerce. This marks his fifth term as a Campbell trustee and his second term as board chairman.
     An active member of Whiteville First Baptist Church, Wells has served as a deacon, chairman of deacons and as a member of the Pastor Selection Committee.
     Wells and his wife the late Elizabeth (Betty) Fisher are the parents of two children, Anna Wells Moore, a pharmacist and Toby, a Campbell graduate and member of the Campbell University Presidential Board of Advisors. Toby Wells is also an automobile dealer near Pinehurst.
     “It’s really a challenge, but I feel very optimistic about the long-term growth of Campbell University,” Wells said. “With the construction of new buildings, an all-time record of 2,800 plus undergraduate students enrolled on the main campus, excellent leadership, faculty and staff, the future is looking bright.”

Photo Copy: Harold Wells, right, presents the key to the newly remodeled D. Rich building on the Campbell campus to Dr. Jerry M. Wallace, president of Campbell University.