Robert Charles Camp PhD P E

Robert Camp, 91, of Ithaca, New York passed away on September 02, 2026. He was born in Milwaukee, WI where his father worked for the US Forest Service before being posted to Paraguay and, for over 27 years, represented the Rockefeller Foundation’s philanthropic interests in Latin America. Having lived in Paraguay and Venezuela from age six, the need for an English-speaking high school was met by attending Admiral Farragut Academy, a college preparatory school with Naval Science training, with an eye to attending the Naval Academy and becoming a career pilot. He graduated in 1954 as Battalion Commander, completing high school in three years. He received an appointment to the Naval Academy but could not meet the 20/20 vision requirement, so he pursued Civil Engineering at Cornell University. He helped defray his education expenses by acting as Steward for his fraternity. He completed eight years of service as a US Navy Sea Bee reservist.

He is recognized worldwide as the preeminent Best Practice Benchmarking authority, author and competency coach. After 35 years in Logistics at Mobil Oil, DuPont and retiring from Xerox in 1995, he established the Best Practice Institute, a consultancy, to help organizations incorporate world class best practices as the method of choice for achieving superior performance and financial results. He wrote the first book on benchmarking in 1989 which set the standard for organizational performance excellence criteria in the US National Quality Award.

The classic case study of Xerox compared to LL Bean captured the imagination of senior management and motivated them to pursue benchmarking. Engagements with Tata in India were typical; awareness education, senior management briefings, master class research workshops, audits, lessons learned. The 20-year journey resulted in the bestselling book translated into14 languages, nearly 1.5 million miles traveled to over 15 countries and more than 200 engagements with 70 clients. The capstone achievement was being honored with the American Society of Quality Distinguished Service Medal for lifetime contribution to quality technology – a structured approach for change through capture, exchange and adoption of best practices worldwide to become the best of the best.

He received a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Master of Business Administration from Cornell University and a Doctorate in Logistics and Operations Research from Penn State University. He served as Adjunct Professor of Logistics at the Rochester Institute of Technology School of Business. For 11 years, he was on the Executive Committee and in 1993 was President of the Council of Logistics Management, the leading worldwide Logistics professional association. He served two terms on the Cornell Botanical Gardens Advisory Board, during the building of the Nevin Welcome Center and dedicated a red maple in the Arboretum to the memory of his father who nurtured a lifelong love of trees.

Membership in a church youth group brought him and his future wife together. He was married for 42 years to Carolyn Albrecht, a Home Economics, and Masters of Science in Nature Education graduate from Cornell University. On her death in 2000 from cancer, he moved from Brighton, NY to their college town of Ithaca, NY. Through music, family and a Cornell 50th Reunion, he met Marjorie (Marj) Nelson Smart, a classmate of his late wife. They became life companions; traveling together to Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, France, Chile, Iceland and timesharing in Maui.

He is predeceased by his parents John Robert and Emily Patch Camp, of Berkshire, NY, sister Barbara Lee (Camp) Granata of Holyoke, MA, his wife Carolyn Albrecht Camp of Berkshire, NY and his son Robert Charles, Jr. (Shelly) of Farmington, NY. He is survived by his son John Christopher (Lori) of Cary, NC, five grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is also survived by his beloved companion Marj Smart and her family; Sherry of Ithaca, NY, Larry (Chris) of Geneva, NY, six grandchildren and one great grandchild.

His 55-year career spanned four job changes, travels to over 25 countries, publishing three books that launched a second career, life relationships with two wonderful, talented women and an extended family of 11 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. It was a rewarding career and an exceptional family journey – a life fulfilled!

A private memorial will be held at Evergreen Cemetery in Berkshire, NY where his remains will be interred with his wife Carolyn and at the family summer cottage in Canada, a haven of renewal and retreat for over 77 years, where his remains will be cascaded from the bluff overlooking the lake site, following those of his father and sister.