Robert Van Kampen

{{short description|American businessman and evangelical financier}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Robert Van Kampen
| image              = 
| image_size         = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Robert D. Van Kampen
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1938|12|16}}
| birth_place        = [[Evergreen Park, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1999|10|29|1938|12|16}}
| death_place        = [[Loyola University Medical Center]], U.S.
| education          = [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]]
| occupation         = Businessman
| title              = 
| known_for          = Founder of [[Van Kampen Investments]] and [[First Trust (company)|First Trust]]
| spouse             = 
| children           = 3
| relatives          = [[Robert Pierre (musician)|Robert Pierre]] (grandson)
}}
'''Robert D. Van Kampen''' (December 16, 1938 – October 29, 1999) was an American businessman, who served as a member of various organizational boards in the business world and Christian ministry.

Van Kampen's business career took him into the investment banking world, and he became one of the wealthiest men in the [[United States]] after founding the investment banking firm [[Van Kampen Merritt]] (later renamed to [[Van Kampen Investments]]) in 1974. In 1991, he founded another firm named Nike Securities which was later renamed to [[First Trust (company)|First Trust]].

==Business career==
Van Kampen was born on December 16, 1938, in [[Evergreen Park, Illinois]]. Van Kampen was educated at [[Wheaton Academy]] in [[West Chicago]] and [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]] in Wheaton, Illinois, graduating in 1960. After graduation he worked at [[Nuveen]] as a bond salesman where he was known as "The Charger" due to his ambition and drive. <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2001-08-16 |title=FINANCIER COLLECTED WEALTH OF HOLY TEXTS |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/os-xpm-2001-08-17-0108160514-story.html |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

In 1967, Van Kampen left Nuveen over a compensation dispute and co-founded an [[investment banking]] firm, Van Kampen, Wauterlek & Brown which was later renamed to Clayton Brown & Associates.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2023-11-28 |title=Clayton Brown, who ran municipal bond firm, dies at 95 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-clayton-brown-obituary-20231128-53i2ukwhavfehgptvtlrxpvpae-story.html |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> In 1974, he left the firm to found another firm, [[Van Kampen Merritt]] that was later acquired by [[Xerox]] in 1984.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=1991-10-02 |title=Nike Securities completes the purchase of Clayton Brown's unit trust division. |url=https://www.americanbanker.com/news/nike-securities-completes-the-purchase-of-clayton-browns-unit-trust-division |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=American Banker |language=en}}</ref>

From 1980 to 1992, Van Kampen was also a partner in VMS Realty.<ref name=":0" />

In September 1991, Van Kampen founded another firm named Nike Securities in [[Chicago]]. It would be later renamed to [[First Trust (company)|First Trust]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

==Religious views==
As an evangelical Christian, Van Kampen was known for applying biblical principles to the running of his business, and there was a strict code of personal conduct among his many employees.  [[Divorce]] was frowned upon and the drinking of hard liquor discouraged.<ref name=":1" />

In the 1990s, Van Kampen developed what is known today in evangelical Christian [[eschatology]] as the [[Prewrath|"Pre-Wrath” rapture position]], authoring three books on the subject.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

His family foundation owns one of the largest private collections of rare and antique [[Bible|Bibles]] in North America, which was housed in the Scriptorium at the [[Holy Land Experience]] in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], [[Florida]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== Personal life ==<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: in line with a request on behalf of representatives of the family of Mr Van Kampen, please do NOT place the names of his relatives within this section or the article. If you wish to discuss this matter, please place a message on my talk page - Thank You! -->
In 1963 Van Kampen married, and he and his wife had three children.  Having initially lived in Wheaton, Illinois, Van Kampen made his home in West Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, and [[West Michigan]]. Van Kampen died on October 29, 1999, at the age of 60 in [[Loyola University Medical Center]] while waiting for a [[heart transplant]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3DE113BF937A35752C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=Robert Van Kampen, Investor And Bible Collector, Dies at 60|work=New York Times|author=William H Honan|date=November 4, 1999|accessdate=2008-01-14}}</ref> 

Christian singer [[Robert Pierre (musician)|Robert Pierre]], son of Van Kampen's daughter Karla and Scott Pierre, is Van Kampen's grandson.<ref name="Pinsky">{{cite news|last1=Pinsky|first1=Mark|title=A voice of faith ; Windermere's Robert Pierre uses his singing talent to spread the gospel, but will his voice break before his career lifts off?|publisher=Orlando Sentinel|date=2 November 2006|id={{ProQuest|280362953}}}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.solagroup.org Sola Scriptura]
*[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3DE113BF937A35752C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Obituary] at the [[New York Times]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Kampen, Robert}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Chicago]]
[[Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:People from West Chicago, Illinois]]
[[Category:People from Wheaton, Illinois]]