David was educated in the Midwest, earning his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Iowa State University,
and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota.
In 1960, he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota, rising to full Professor in eight years.
During that period, he co-authored the widely used Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory. In 1973, he
was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership® in Greensboro, North Carolina and then
joined the Center as Executive Vice-President. In 1981, he was appointed as the first Smith
Richardson Senior Fellow. In 1979, he was an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of London
and in 1986-1987, he was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy in
Colorado Springs.
His lecturing and professional activities have taken him to dozens of U.S. corporations and
universities, and to many foreign countries, notably Russia, China, Peru, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Chile,
the Philippines, and much of Western Europe.
David has recently published a new psychological test battery, the Campbell Development Surveys,
which includes individual surveys designed to analyze working interests, skills, leadership potential,
teamwork and working satisfaction.
His honors include the E.K. Strong, Jr. Gold Medal for excellence in psychological testing research.
In 1998, the University of Colorado awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. He also
received the 2001 Distinguished Professional Contributions Award from the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology. In 2006, David received the Distinguished Psychologist in Management
Award from the Society of Psychologists in Management. During Spring Semester 2006, David
served as the first Hellervik/PDI Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota. And in 2007, he
received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Iowa State University.
David is perhaps best known for his popular books:
“If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, You’ll Probably End Up Somewhere Else”; “Take the
Road to Creativity and Get Off Your Dead End”; “If I’m in Charge Here, Why Is Everybody
Laughing?”
He is an avid photographer and skier, and likes to play squash.
David is survived by his wife, Katie Qu; sons Jim Campbell (Susan Enfield) , and Drew Campbell (Divine Grace Calio Campbell); daughters Sondra Campbell, and Sally Jiang; sisters Sally Hanson, and Sue Shepard (Don Helgeson); grandchildren Alec (Simone), Colin, Andy, Charlotte and Skyler.
David was preceded in death by son Charles Campbell; father Gerald L Campbell and mother Shirley Sullivan-Campbell.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MyLakeviewFuneralHome.com for the CAMPBELL family.
