Ted-Rollins

Campus Crest, Valeo Founder Ted Rollins Passes Away at Age 58

by Katie Sloan

Greenville, S.C. — Theodore (Ted) Rollins, founder of Campus Crest and Valeo, has passed away at the age of 58 after a brave 10-month battle with cancer. Born in 1962 in Wilmington, Delaware, Rollins is survived by his loving wife Holly Rollins; children Sarah Rollins, Emma Rollins and stepsons Eric Parrish, Zac Parrish and Ethan Matheson; and grandson Samuel White. 

Rollins attended The Citadel and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in business administration before receiving his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He then started his career in New York as an investment banker focusing on real estate finance. 

Rollins later co-founded Campus Crest with his business school classmate, Mike Harnett, and grew the firm into a publicly-traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange with over 50,000 beds in the U.S. and Canada in over 70 markets with assets in both joint venture and wholly-owned properties in excess of $2.3 billion. In the mid-2010s, after Rollins helped take Campus Crest public with Harrison Street, he founded Valeo, starting first with operations in England before expanding it into Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland and the U.S.

 “Everyone at Student Housing Business is saddened to hear this news,” says Editor Randy Shearin. “Ted leaves a big legacy in the industry. He was always fun and interesting to talk to and conversations with him were both enlightening and inspiring.”

“Most people probably don’t know this but Ted was the inspiration for the SHB Innovator Awards,” adds Publisher Richard Kelley. “Randy and I met with Ted many years ago in his office in Charlotte and he said ‘You should launch a program of awards for the industry’. We followed his advice and are glad we did. Thank you for that Ted, and for everything you did in this industry.”

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