This concerns the passing away of Professor James Campbell on July 30.

James Albert Campbell was born April 28, 1926 in Washington, D.C. to Lester and Teresa Cole Campbell. He attended Western High School where he was accepted into the Cadet Corps. He graduated with honors receiving four scholarships.

At the height of WW II, after graduating high school at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Navy, somehow overcoming restrictions against his age, height and enlarged heart. After serving with distinction in the Navy, he secured a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Illinois in 1948, a Master’s Degree in Education at USC in 1956, and a doctorate in 1984. He was a chemistry professor at El Camino College for more than 25 years, where he was regarded as a gifted and as a challenging educator.

From 1979 on, (including 10 years in semi-retirement) he was a pillar of the Health Education Preparedness Program (HePP) at the USC School of Medicine. Campbell’s involvement with HePP crowned a career devoted to helping young adults improve their lives through education.

Campbell not only taught courses in science and ethics in the HePP program, but also assisted students with their medical school applications, coordinated the curriculum and wrote the grant proposals each year that kept the program funded. He often received letters and cards from former students attesting to the major impact he had on their lives.

Dr. Campbell is survived by his companion, Victor Catalan, two cousins Carol Ann Dunn of Charleston, S.C. and Maureen Lyons of Front Royal, Virg., as well as by a host of devoted friends and colleagues.

-Ivan A. Gargurevich, Ph.D

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