David M. Campbell '66 died of pancreatic cancer on August 25, 2009. The London, England, man was sixty-five.
David was a psychology major. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and played lacrosse. Among memorable events he experienced at Kenyon, he said, were spring dance weekends; seeing Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, and the Kingsmen in concert; and riding to Denison University on his motorcycle.
He earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Boston University in 1971. He moved to England the same year and began work for the Tavistock Clinic. For thirty-seven years, he was a "leading exponent of family therapy and did much to develop the methods that embraced work with family groups," according to the Times of London. He worked as trainer, supervisor, researcher, and clinician and "was dedicated to translating complex theoretical ideas into useful tools," the Times reported.
"He was in the vanguard of creative practices within the mental health service," the newspaper said. He was influenced in the early 1980s by a group of Italian family therapists who promoted the exploration of family beliefs and questioning as a means of inviting connections and addressing dilemmas. He advocated a systemic way of thinking about multiple contexts.
As an organizational consultant, David sought deeper understanding of institutions as systems and he worked to overcome inter-professional barriers and build collaborative teams. "Campbell's particular style of active listening and questioning, his ability to be containing and nonjudgmental, and his optimism that different constructions of reality can co-exist, meant that he was constantly in demand by troubled organizations," the Times said.
He wrote and edited many books and articles.
David was known for being witty, accessible, encouraging, and full of curiosity.
He was survived by his wife of thirty-five years, Jane, and two children, Jesse and Briony.