College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• Creative leadership
  
  Psychology graduate David Campbell has made a career out of organizational leadership.

  
  It took a while for David Campbell ('55 general science) to become interested in psychology. But once he did, he didn't look back.
  
  This VEISHEA, the Iowa State University Alumni Association will recognize Campbell and three other Iowa State graduates with its Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor given to alumni by Iowa State.
  
  As a freshman at Iowa State, Campbell at first wanted to be a medical doctor. Not because he was all that interested in medicine. It just happened to be one of the few professions he was familiar with.
  
  "I came from a small town (Greenfield, Iowa) and there weren't any professions in the town except doctors, teachers and ministers," he recalled. "I knew I didn't want to be a teacher or minister, so I
  became a pre-med student."
  
  Viewing a first aid film during ROTC training made Campbell realize a medical career wasn't in his future. He gravitated to, and eventually graduated with, a degree in science from Iowa State.
  In his senior year, Campbell found another subject that intrigued him. He took a couple of psychology courses and soon discovered that the subject fascinated him.
  
  While working at Proctor and Gamble after graduation, Campbell took night courses in psychology and eventually came back to Iowa State as a master's student, graduating in 1958.
  
  "I couldn't get admitted to Minnesota or Ohio State and Iowa State was trying to sell the Regents on a doctorate program in psychology," Campbell said. "The department chair needed bodies in the master's program. He remembered me from the Cyclone baseball team and admitted me."
  
  Campbell's life took another turn while back at Iowa State when one day he ran into Curtiss Hall to get out of a rainstorm. There he saw an announcement for a one-credit course in computer programming.
  
  The course came in handy when Campbell was a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota the following year.
  
  "I was the only one in the program who knew about computer programming," Campbell said. "I was hired to program 30 years' results of the Strong Interest Inventory which were being transferred from Stanford to the University of Minnesota.
  
  "Then the author died and the inventory fell into my lap. When I published my first survey revision, it defined my whole career."
  
  The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory assessment guides individuals toward career choices and became one of the most widely used career surveys.
  
  "I love putting numbers on people's behavior. It makes it into a scientific endeavor," Campbell said. "If psychological surveys ask the right questions they will predict what people will do."
  
  Campbell has been adept at developing surveys that ask the right questions - first as the director of the Center for Interest Measurement Research at the University of Minnesota and later as executive vice president of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). He remains with that company at its Colorado Springs branch as the Smith Richardson Senior Fellow.
  
  At CCL, Campbell has continued to author surveys - this time leadership and organizational tools. He has worked with middle managers and top-level managers of some of the world's top companies.
  He has conducted leadership seminars for individuals including Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, Michael Dell, numerous four-star generals and admirals, and freshmen members of Congress.

David Campbell

Around LAS
February 5-18, 2007

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