John Angus Campbell
{{Short description|American professor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|3|10}}
| birth_place = Portland, Oregon
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| nationality = American
| education = Portland State University (BS)
University of Pittsburgh (MA, PhD)
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John Angus Campbell (born March 10, 1942) is a retired American professor of communication and rhetoric at University of Memphis who argues that the religious idea of intelligent design should be mentioned in schools when teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.{{cite journal |last=Forrest |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Forrest |date=December 2004 |title=Book review: Darwinism, Design, and Public Education. John Angus Campbell and Stephen C. Meyer, eds. |url=https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/44/6/510/610213 |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=510–513 |doi=10.1093/icb/44.6.510 |s2cid=85813976 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite web |last=Jacobsen |first=Scott Douglas |date=January 29, 2022 |title=Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) |url=https://www.newsintervention.com/excavation-failure-international-society-complexity-information-design/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528032435/https://www.newsintervention.com/excavation-failure-international-society-complexity-information-design/ |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |access-date=December 20, 2023 |website=News Intervention |department=Politics}} He was a fellow of the Center for Science and Culture (CSC), the subsidiary promoting creationism of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based conservative think tank; he became a fellow of the Discovery Institute in 1995.{{Cite web |title=Fellows |url=http://www.discovery.org/csc/fellows.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923184115/http://www.discovery.org/csc/fellows.php |archive-date=September 23, 2008 |website=CSC - Center for Science and Culture |publisher=Discovery Institute |publication-place=Seattle, WA |postscript=. |access-date=March 9, 2010 }} does not include his name.{{cite web |last=Elsberry |first=Wesley R. |author-link=Wesley R. Elsberry |title=Can I Keep a Witness? |url=http://ncse.com/rncse/26/1-2/can-i-keep-witness |access-date=November 12, 2009 |publisher=National Center for Science Education |quote=This version might differ slightly from the print publication.}}{{Cite book |title=Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District and Dover Area School District Board of Directors |date=March 29, 2005 |chapter=Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 Disclosure of Expert Testimony: John Angus Campbell, Ph.D. |id=Case No. 04-CV-2688 |chapter-url=https://ncse.ngo/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/expert_reports/2005_03-29_Campbell_expert_report_D.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330072529/https://ncse.ngo/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/expert_reports/2005_03-29_Campbell_expert_report_D.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2023 |url-status=live |via=National Center for Science Education |access-date=January 1, 2024 }}{{Rp|page=6}} He was a fellow in communications of the now-defunct International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID), whose tagline was "retraining the scientific imagination to see purpose in nature".{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=Society Fellows |url=http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510051326/http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |website=International Society For Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID)}}
Personal life
On March 10, 1942, he was born in Portland, Oregon.{{Cite web |title=Biography of John Campbell |url=http://campbell4kids.com/campaign.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005071335/http://campbell4kids.com/campaign.xml |archive-date=October 5, 2007 |website=Campbell-4-Kids |publication-place=Belfair, WA}} He continued to be raised in the Pacific Northwest.{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=John |title=About John Campbell... |url=http://campbell4kids.com/about_john_campbell.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005071215/http://campbell4kids.com/about_john_campbell.xml |archive-date=October 5, 2007 |website=Campbell-4-Kids}}
He was a member of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in Oregon, receiving the Eagle Scout award and becoming a member of the Order of the Arrow. In 1960, he worked for the Forest Service, doing "minor surveying and major brush whacking". From 1960 to 1968, he did various door-to-door sales in Oregon and Northern California.
In 1982, he married Brooke Quigley. In 1990, they bought property in North Mason; after he retired in 2005, he moved to Belfair.
From 2000 to 2005, he was a board member of the YMCA in Memphis, TN. In 2007, he was a member of the Citizens Committee for the Establishment of Mason County Hospital District 2 in Belfair, WA.
Career
From 1960 to 1964, he studied to get his B.S. degree from Portland State University. He subsequently studied and worked as a teaching assistant at University of Pittsburgh, getting an M.A. in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1968. All three of his degrees were in Speech Communication.{{Rp|page=6}}
He taught Communication in the Department of Speech at University of Washington, as an Assistant Professor from 1968 to 1973 or 1976,{{Rp|page=6}} then as an Associate Professor until 1995, totaling 28 years, teaching students from freshman to doctoral; there, he received a Distinguished Teaching Award in 1993 and a Dean's Recognition Award in 1994, and completed 14 Ph.D. dissertations. He was a Professor and Graduate Program Director / Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication at University of Memphis for 10 years starting in 1995, retiring and becoming Professor Emeritus in 2005, teaching graduate Rhetorical Theory, undergraduate Oral Communication, undergraduate Rhetorical Perspectives in Intellectual Revolution, graduate Rhetoric of Science, undergraduate Great American Speeches, graduate Rhetorical Criticism, graduate Classical Rhetoric, undergraduate Senior Thesis, graduate Modern Rhetoric, Independent Studies (Rhetoric of Science), graduate Independent Studies, graduate Rhetoriography, and undergraduate and graduate American Public Address; there, he completed 7 Ph.D. dissertations, had 1 M.A. and 1 Ph.D. scholarships for Distinguished Teaching established in his name by his colleagues, and inaugurated a doctoral program which as of 2007 was ranked 13th in the US. As of 2007, he had 7 Ph.D. dissertations in progress long-distance from his home office in Belfair. As of 2007, all of his 21 completed Ph.D. students were "successfully employed in their chosen fields of endeavor".{{Rp|pages=1,6,7}}
In 1970/1971 and 1987, he received the Golden Monograph Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the National Communication Association; the second time, it was called the Golden Anniversary. In 1990, he was a Van Zelst Visiting Professor of Communication at Northwestern University. He was declared Communication Educator of the Year in 2001 and Communicator of the Year in 2004 by the Tennessee State Communication Association. In 2003/2004, he received the Oleg Ziman Award for best essay/article from the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. In 2005, he received the James Madison Award in First Amendment Studies from the Freedom of Speech Division of the Southern States Communication Association.{{Rp|page=6}}
He was invited to do a MacArthur Lecture at University of Utah in 1982 as part of their "In Darwin's Wake" series, a Van Zelst Lecture at Northwestern University in 1990, a Brigance Lecture at Wabash College in 1999, a lecture at St. John's College at University of British Columbia in 2000, a lecture for the departments of English and Philosophy at University of Waterloo in 2003, a lecture for the Honors College at University of Central Arkansas in 2003, a lecture for the department of Biology at University of Mississippi in 2004, a key note address at Denison University as part of the faculty conference "Is Pub Speaking A Liberal Art?" in 2004, a lecture at the McLauren Institute at University of Minnesota in 2004, a lecture at the department of Communication at Tulane University in 2005, a key note address at Kent State in 2006, and a lecture at Greene College at University of British Columbia in 2006.{{Rp|page=|pages=6–7}}
As of 2007, he had published "more than 35 single-authored, peer-reviewed essays, not including book reviews and conference papers". In 1976, as part of the series Modules in speech communication published by Science Research Associates, he wrote a 47-page textbook titled An Overview of Speech Preparation.{{Rp|page=9}}{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=John Angus |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=STNO&searchType=1&recCount=25&searchArg=9780574225245 |title=An overview of speech preparation |date=1976 |publisher=Science Research Associates |isbn=978-0-574-22524-5 |series=Modules in speech communication |location=Palo Alto, California |lccn=75035739 |via=Library of Congress catalog}} In 1996, he wrote an essay on teaching titled "Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom". In November 2003, together with Stephen C. Meyer (who is also a Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture) he edited Darwinism, Design and Public Education,{{cite book |url=http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=725 |title=Darwinism, Design, and Public Education |publisher=Michigan State University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-87013-675-7 |editor-last1=Campbell |editor-first1=John Angus |series=Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series |location=East Lansing |editor-last2=Meyer |editor-first2=Stephen C. |editor-link2=Stephen C. Meyer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903221359/http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=725 |archive-date=September 3, 2006 |url-status=dead}} a collection of articles primarily from a 1998 issue of the journal Rhetoric and Public Affairs published by Michigan State University Press, purporting a scientific basis for intelligent design.{{Rp|pages=1,9}}
In Fall 2000, he received $12,000 from the Discovery Institute.{{Rp|pages=|page=20}}
He did High Ability Day for "Highschool Students interested in Communication" starting in 1995; did the Urban Communication Conference for "Community Activists, local government representatives, citizens and U of M students" starting in 1995; served as judge on March 18, 1998, and February 10, 1999, for the Optimist Club High School Oratory Contest; presented a lecture on "Rhetoric & The Art of Preaching" to the Harding Grad School of Religion, Prof David Bland Dr. of Ministry Seminar in 1997–1998; presented a lecture on "Classical Rhetoric & Prophetic Rhetoric: A Necessary Tension?" to the Mid America Theological Seminary, sponsored by Prof Ken Easly, in 2000; attended and presented at Career Day to "department majors", sponsored by Professor McDowell, in 2002; met with Jim Carnes of the Classical School, a "private school centered on rhetoric and the classics" in 2002; presented a lecture to Classical School faculty and students on "The Centrality of Argument to a Liberal Education" in 2003; had a discussion with faculty members at Memphis Theological Seminary during a lunch meeting in January 2004; and was a board member of the Mason YMCA in 2004.{{Rp|pages=20–21}} In 2006, he presented two seminars, one in the summer, and one more in the fall after observing its success and interest, on "Civic Communication" at the Theler Center in Belfair, WA, in the North Mason community. As of 2007, he was in his second term as President of the Association for the Rhetoric of Science & Technology.
In 1995, he became an Associate Editor for the NCA's Quarterly Journal of Speech (with a hiatus between 1998 and 2000), and later Argumentation & Advocacy,{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Kelly |date=June 30, 2022 |title=Argumentation and Advocacy Editorship: Call for new Editor of Argumentation and Advocacy, vols. 59-61 |url=https://www.americanforensicsassoc.org/2022/06/30/call-for-new-editor-of-argumentation-and-advocacy-vols-59-61/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630224009/https://www.americanforensicsassoc.org/2022/06/30/call-for-new-editor-of-argumentation-and-advocacy-vols-59-61/ |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |access-date=December 22, 2023 |website=NCA Argumentation & Forensics Division}} Southern Journal of Communication, and Rhetoric and Public Affairs. From 2003 to 2004, he as Secretary American Branch Society for the History of Rhetoric at SSCA. Starting in 1997, he was Associate Editor of Origins & Design published by the ARRN Access Resource Network [
In 2007, he ran for a seat on the school board of North Mason School District (#403) in the state of Washington, stating that "issues of communication" were the cause of many stakeholders' frustrations, that he "will work to establish transparency in board deliberations and to foster the consensus-building vital to wise policy, public credibility, and excellence in education", and that his candidacy was about "creating a positive atmosphere in which our students will achieve their full potential". His campaign page summarized that he will "help restore TRUST and a spirit of collaboration among those concerned about local education", "use his LEADERSHIP skills to work to build consensus, vital to excellence in education", and "create open and clear COMMUNICATION between the school board, teachers, administrators and the community."{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Welcome! |url=http://campbell4kids.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005070921/http://campbell4kids.com/ |archive-date=October 5, 2007 |website=Campbell-4-Kids}} However, he did not disclose his collections to intelligent design; in a telephone interview he stated that he would not be dealing with curricula, and that he is a "Darwinist" who considers that debating Darwin can engage the interest of students and improve their skills in critical thinking. He was quoted as saying "Rather than demonizing people that believe in ID, I think there are ways people could use their ideas to study Darwinism more closely."{{cite news |last=Nina |first=Shapiro |author-link=Nina Shapiro |date=August 29, 2007 |title=Rural School Board Candidate Hasn't Been Forthcoming About His "Intelligent Design" Agenda |work=Seattle Weekly |url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-08-29/news/rural-school-board-candidate-hasn-t-been-forthcoming-about-his-intelligent-design-agenda.php |url-status=dead |access-date=August 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930211200/http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-08-29/news/rural-school-board-candidate-hasn-t-been-forthcoming-about-his-intelligent-design-agenda.php |archive-date=September 30, 2007}} He said that he "doorbelled about a thousand homes and apartments and talked to an equal number of people in the parking lots of Safeway and QFC. People are really concerned about the reputation and image of the schools." The election was held on November 6, 2007, and results showed him defeating the incumbent Glenn Landram by 2,216 votes to 992; he said that he was "really grateful to the people of this community for the trust and confidence they have placed in" him.{{Cite news |last=Strosnider |first=Ann |date=November 6, 2007 |title=2 Incumbents Lose on North Mason School Board |work=The Kitsap Sun |location=Belfair |url=http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/nov/06/north-mason-school-board/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109100445/http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/nov/06/north-mason-school-board/ |archive-date=November 9, 2007 |quote=This story was updated to correct the initially reported vote totals.}} At a special meeting on December 14, 2023, he retired from his position as District 4 Director of the North Mason School Board; the board unanimously voted to replace him with Nicholas Thomas.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=June |date=December 21, 2023 |title=Thomas named to North Mason School Board seat |url=https://www.masoncounty.com/story/2023/12/21/news/thomas-named-to-north-mason-school-board-seat/3517.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222040730/https://www.masoncounty.com/story/2023/12/21/news/thomas-named-to-north-mason-school-board-seat/3517.html |archive-date=December 22, 2023 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |website=Shelton-Mason County Journal |language=en}}
= Involvement in the trial ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'' =
The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) named him, among others, as an expert witness for the defense in the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. In early 2005, Susan Spath, Public Information Director at the National Center for Science Education, aided by activists contributing to a Wiki page, spent most of two months analyzing his expert report and his writings, in order to help the plaintiff criticize and question him during his deposition, which was scheduled to occur on June 2, 2005. At 9 AM on June 2, 2005, Pepper Hamilton attorney Thomas Schmidt III and legal assistant Kate Henslow, representing the plaintiffs, were waiting in Memphis, Tennessee, to take his deposition, with the help of a court reporter they hired. Campbell, TMLC attorney Pat Gillen, and a lawyer from the Discovery Institute arrived, and Gillen announced that Campbell was withdrawn from the case, so the deposition was cancelled. Campbell was the first, but other expert witnesses also subsequently withdrew from the case.{{Cite web |last=Forrest |first=Barbara |date=July 31, 2006 |title=The "Vise Strategy" Undone: Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/vise-strategy-undone-kitzmiller-et-al-v-dover-area-school-district/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222035314/https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/vise-strategy-undone-kitzmiller-et-al-v-dover-area-school-district/ |archive-date=December 22, 2023 |access-date=December 21, 2023 |website=Skeptical Inquirer: The Magazine for Science and Reason |publisher=Center for Inquiry |language=en-US |publication-place=Amherst, NY}}
Campbell, as well as Stephen Meyer and William Dembski, all fellows of the Discovery Institute (DI), were willing to testify as expert witnesses under the condition that they have their own independent legal counsel with them during their depositions, but Richard Thompson, lead attorney for TMLC, refused to allow their request, citing a conflict of interest, but without providing legal justification for this. This disagreement resulted in the cancellation of their depositions.{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2005 |title=Setting the Record Straight about Discovery Institute's Role in the Dover School District Case |url=https://www.discovery.org/a/3003/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120220549/https://www.discovery.org/a/3003/ |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |access-date=December 21, 2023 |website=Discovery Institute |language=en-US |department=Intelligent Design}} This resulted in an amplification of conflict between the TMLC and the DI.{{Cite magazine |last1=Humburg |first1=Burt |last2=Brayton |first2=Ed |date=Summer 2005 |title=The Dover decision: a stunning blow against intelligent design creationism--how the Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District trial unfolded |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A144150738/AONE?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=95aba4c6 |magazine=Skeptic |location=Altadena, CA |publisher=Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=44+ |id=GALE{{!}}A144150738 |access-date=December 21, 2023 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}}{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Stephen |date=June 27, 2005 |title=Affidavit of Stephen Meyer |url=https://ncse.ngo/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/2005-06_FTE_intervention/2005-06-28_FTE_intervention_Meyer_affidavit.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101195043/https://ncse.ngo/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/2005-06_FTE_intervention/2005-06-28_FTE_intervention_Meyer_affidavit.pdf |archive-date=January 1, 2024 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |website=Tammy J. Kitzmiller, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Dover Area School District and Dover Area School District Board Of Directors, Defendants, and Foundation For Thought And Ethics, Applicant for Intervention |publisher=United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania |via=National Center for Science Education |id=Civil Action No. 4:04-CV-2688}}
The withdrawal of the expert witnesses hurt the defense's ability to support their side.
Campbell's opinions are stated in his expert report.{{Rp|pages=1–5}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080620180902/http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=110&isFellow=true John Angus Campbell Biography] from Discovery Institute
- [http://www.arn.org/authors/campbell.html John Angus Campbell articles] from Access Research Network
Court documents
- [http://ncse.com/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/expert_reports/2005_03-29_Campbell_expert_report_D.pdf Disclosure of Expert Testimony]: John Angus Campbell, Ph.D. Documented submitted as part of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. Includes Campbell's curriculum vitae and copies of published articles relayed to intelligent design.
- [http://ncse.com/webfm_send/166 Stephen Meyer's affidavit] regarding the termination of John Angus Campbell, William Dembski, and himself as expert witnesses by the Thomas More Law Center when they insisted on private counsel.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, John Angus}}
Category:University of Washington faculty
Category:Discovery Institute fellows and advisors
Category:Fellows of the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design
Category:Intelligent design movement