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Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. (born September 3, 1941) is an American businessman, philanthropist, farmer, minister, educator, historical preservationist and author. He and his wife Marilyn live near Portland, Oregon.

A longtime Oregonian, Pamplin is chairman, president and CEO of R.B. Pamplin Corporation, a family-owned company headquartered in Portland. It is one of the largest private corporations in Oregon. He has appeared on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. In 2001, he was reported to be the third-wealthiest person in Oregon.

Pamplin's holdings include textile company Mount Vernon Mills, the Pamplin Media Group, and Ross Island Sand and Gravel, a concrete and asphalt company.

Early years
Pamplin was born in Augusta, Georgia to Robert B. and Katherine Reese Pamplin.

In 1953, Pamplin moved with his family to Oregon. As a 10-year-old recovering from a year-long bout with hepatitis that made him bedridden, Pamplin began training in the Charles Atlas weightlifting method to regain his strength. In high school, he became an AAU Olympic Lifts weightlifting champion which led to a lifelong commitment to fitness. In 1965, while in college, Pamplin became a licensed stockbroker and transformed a modest inheritance into his first million dollars through careful investing. Pamplin paid his way through college, and for all of his subsequent degrees, by working and investing.

In 1974, at age 33, he was diagnosed with cancer.

Education
After graduating from Lincoln High School in Portland, Pamplin studied at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, ultimately transferring to Lewis & Clark College in 1962 to complete his undergraduate training. Pamplin has earned eight degrees from accredited institutions, including two doctorates:


 * Three undergraduate Bachelor of Science degrees in Business Administration (1964), Accounting (1965) and Economics (1966) from Lewis & Clark College
 * Masters in Business Administration (1968) and a Masters in Education from the University of Portland (1975)
 * Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration from California Coast University (1976)
 * Masters of Arts in Theology (1978) and a Doctor of Ministry in Theology (1982) from Western Seminary

Business
In 1976, at age 35, Pamplin started his own business and managed the R.B. Pamplin Corporation. As Chairman, President and CEO of the R.B. Pamplin Corporation, Pamplin oversees several subsidiaries across three industries, including textile manufacturing, construction and media.

Holdings include:
 * Mount Vernon Mills, one of the country’s largest privately-owned manufacturers of textile and chemical products for the apparel, industrial, institutional, and commercial markets based in Greenville, South Carolina.
 * Ross Island Sand and Gravel, a Portland-based producer of concrete and asphalt. Its subsidiaries include K.F. Jacobsen & Co., B. Gentle Concrete Construction Co. and Pacific Northwest Aggregates.
 * Pamplin Media Group, publisher and producer of the Portland Tribune and 17 award-winning community newspapers in the Portland media market, as well as radio stations KPAM and KKOV.

Pamplin's ownership of both media and major business interests in the Portland area has been controversial. When the Tribune was launched in 2001, and again as of fall 2012, Pamplin's media holdings have been said to be engaged in a "newspaper war" over local circulation with the Oregonian and its affiliated papers.

Pamplin is also founder, chairman of the board and CEO of Columbia Empire Farms, one of Oregon’s largest farming operations. Its holdings include Anne Amie Winery and Pamplin Family Winery, and R2 Ranch, site of the historic Bother stagecoach stop and Cross Keys post office.

Educator
After receiving his masters degrees, Pamplin began teaching as a lecturer at Lewis & Clark College and went on to become a tenured business professor at the University of Portland.

Pamplin has also served on several state and presidential appointed commissions, and college boards of directors. He is a past trustee of five college boards, and past chairman of three, including Lewis & Clark College, Western Seminary and the University of Portland. He served on President Gerald Ford's National Advisory Council on Vocational Education from 1975 to 1980. He was appointed by two governors to the Oregon State Scholarship Commission, serving from 1974 to 1980.

Pamplin is an active donor to numerous colleges, universities and scholarship programs. The business school at University of Portland is now named for him and the college of business at Virginia Tech is named for him and his father. Scholarship programs created by Pamplin include The Pamplin Scholars Program at Virginia Tech and The Pamplin Society of Fellows at Lewis & Clark College.

Preservationist
Pamplin is the creator of Pamplin Historical Park (established 1993), which contains the NRHP-listed Petersburg Breakthrough Battlefield; and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier (established 1999), and has preserved critical aspects of the Civil War.

The Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. International Collection of Art and History encompasses 5,000 years of antiquities and art.

Pamplin was one of the backers of the effort to preserve Shaniko, Oregon, a former mining boomtown that is now considered a ghost town.

Philanthropist
Through personal and corporate giving, Pamplin has donated more than $150 million to numerous charities and has been instrumental in raising $500 million more for various causes. The Pamplin Foundation owns and operates Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier.

Pamplin also ran a food ministry for many years through Christ Community Church, where he was founder and senior pastor. The program fed between 500 - 1,000 daily in Portland.

Recognition
In recognition of Pamplin’s business leadership, he has received the Woodrow Wilson Center Corporate Citizenship Award, the national Herman W. Lay Award for entrepreneurship, and the Businessman of the Year Award from Beta Gamma Sigma International.

Pamplin has been awarded many honorary degrees and national awards, including the Freedom Leadership Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, the National Caring Award from the Caring Institute, Philanthropist of the Year by the National Association of Fundraising Executives and national Volunteer of the Year from Volunteers of America. In Oregon, he has been honored with the Governor's Gold Award, the Oregon Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Oregon Entrepreneur Forum, the Governor's Arts Award, and Portland's First Citizen.

Works authored
Pamplin is the author of 14 books, including: