IN MEMORIAM

IN MEMORIAM

Russell N. Campbell

 Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESL, Emeritus

 Los Angeles

 1927–2003

 

When Russ Campbell passed away on March 30, 2003, UCLA lost one of its most vigorous advocates for internationalism and interculturalism. Russ had a lifelong commitment to language education that transcended the walls of the academy and touched people all over the world. He was an incredible human being and a genuine intellectual who was an inspiration to all who knew him—students, colleagues and those he encountered in the midst of his very active life.

Russ was born in Keokuk, Iowa and earned his B.S. in Spanish from Kansas State College. Subsequently he taught Spanish and social studies at Ellinwood High School, served as Director of Courses at the US-Costa Rican Binational Center, San Jose, Costa Rica and Director of the US-Argentine Binational Center in Cordoba, Argentina, and served as a teacher trainer in Thailand. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Michigan in 1964, writing his dissertation on grammatical constructions in Thai. He joined the UCLA Department of English as an assistant professor in 1964, and served as vice-chair of the Department of English, in charge of the TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) Section from 1974 to 1979. He became the first chair of the newly formed Department of Applied Linguistics & TESL in 1979, a post he held until 1986. He was instrumental in establishing the M.A. program in TESL (now the M.A. in Applied Linguistics) and the Ph.D. Program in Applied Linguistics. He also created the UCLA Language Resource Program, which he directed from 1988 to 2001. He established many collaborative bilingual programs in the Los Angeles area, including the Spanish and Japanese immersion programs in Culver City elementary schools and the Korean-English Two-Way Immersion Program in the Los Angeles Unified School District. His final great interest was the development of language learning programs for heritage language learners in the U.S. (students who have used a language other than English at home).

Russ’s lifelong commitment to language education was realized in a variety of capacities in many countries all over the world: Director of the English Language Institute, American University of Cairo, Coordinator of Peace Corps Training Programs in Thailand, Iran, Nigeria and Ethiopia, Consultant for The Ford Foundation in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, and for the United States Information Service in Italy, Tunisia and Jordan, as a Fulbright Grantee in Peru, and as U.S. State Department Representative to TESL Seminars in Rumania, Poland, and Yugoslavia. He was instrumental in establishing a number of UCLA programs internationally: the REST (Reading English for Science and Technology) program at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, the UCLA/ESL Projects in the People’s Republic of China, and the academic English language program at the American University of Armenia, where he served as dean of the English Department.

Russ was a leader in the field. He served as president of TESOL (Teacher of English to Speakers of other Languages) from 1971 to 1972 and developed the concept of the TESOL Summer Institute, organizing the first one at UCLA in the summer of 1979. His most recent contribution to TESOL was the establishment of the TESOL Research Fund. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Marge, and his son Roger, daughter Paula, and grandchildren Rainbow, Jeramiah, Reny and Russell. He is sorely missed by his family, his colleagues, his former students, and his many friends.

Marianne Celce-Murcia

Lyle F. Bachman