John Campbell (born 1944) was the acting director of the

Office of the Historian The Office of the Historian is an office of the United States Department of State within the Foreign Service Institute. It is legally responsible for the preparation and publication of the official historical documentary record of U.S. foreign po ...

within the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

. He was appointed to the position in June 2009 and was succeeded as acting director by Edward P. Brynn the same year.

Early life

Born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Campbell earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1970.

Consular career

Campbell joined the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1975. He first served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the

Bureau of Human Resources The Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM), previously Bureau of Human Resources, is an agency in the United States Department of State. The bureau is under the purview of the Under Secretary of State for Management. The bureau handles recruitm ...

at the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

. His numerous overseas postings include service as a political counselor in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the late 1980s, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the mid-1990s during the transition from

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

to majority rule and also assignments in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Campbell also served as

United States Ambassador to Nigeria The following is a list of United States ambassadors to Nigeria. Ambassadors Notes See also * Nigeria – United States relations *Foreign relations of Nigeria *Ambassadors of the United States ReferencesUnited States Department of State: B ...

. He was appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and served from May 12, 2004, to July 19, 2007. He presented his credentials on June 25, 2004, and was succeeded by

Robin R. Sanders Robin Renee Sanders (born 1954) is the former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) from 2003 to 2005, and to Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. She is a 2010 D.Sc. graduate of Robert Morris University and served as Deputy Comma ...

. In 2008, Campbell led an Office of the Inspector General's investigation into the U.S. mission in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Post-consular career

In July 2009 Campbell was given the post of acting director at the

after the removal of Marc Susser from the post. He left in September, after just two months, to work with the think tank

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

, where he is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa policy studies. In 2010, Campbell published his first book, titled ''Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink''. The second edition of the book was published in June 2013. Campbell has also written ''Morning in South Africa'', published in May 2016 and ''Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know'', co-authored with Matthew Page and published in July 2018.

References

Sources

United States Department of State: Biography of John Campbell

External links

– "Nigeria: 'Richer' Relationship the Result of Nigeria's Democratic Transformation, Despite Flaws, Says U.S. Ambassador" * * Living people 1944 births University of Virginia alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Nigeria United States Department of State United States Foreign Service personnel {{US-diplomat-stub