At the start of the school year, Biola University welcomed Clark Campbell from Oregon as the new dean of the Rosemead School of Psychology. This is the first time Campbell has lived outside of Oregon, with the exception of his several years at Wheaton College.
After earning his bachelor’s degree at Wheaton, he attended the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology and Western Seminary in Portland, Ore. for his master’s and doctorate, both in Clinical Psychology.
Through it all, Campbell has found support in his wife of 31 years, Donell.
“She was my high school sweetheart,” he said. “We dated through college and then got married after that.” They have three children, the youngest of whom attends Biola as a sophomore.
The Campbells make an effort to keep their faith part of their family, as he said his family makes a point to pray together regularly.
“We also try to maintain a family prayer list for each other to kind of update every quarter or so,” Campbell said, which keeps the family connected even though his two oldest children are both married and living in Washington and Oregon.
Campbell spends his free time traveling and enjoys fishing and camping. His favorite place to visit in the United States is Hawaii and tries to go at least once every year. Outside of the country, Campbell said his favorite place of travel has been Tuscany, Italy.
Campbell is currently in the process of earning a second master’s in clinical psychopharmacology through a postdoctoral masters program and also teaches a class at George Fox University in Oregon.
“George Fox flies me up to Oregon every Thursday night and then I fly back here on Sunday,” Campbell said. “My wife is still there because we haven’t sold our house yet, so she’s there so we’re able to be together on the weekends.”
The new dean taught classes at George Fox for the past 20 years, and he had a clinical psychology practice before accepting the position in Rosemead. This is the first time in 25 years he has not had a practice, but he plans to restart one within the next few years.
“As dean, my job really is administrative so I don’t have to teach, but I’m sure I will teach again once I kind of get my feet on the ground with my job of administration,” he said. Campbell said he will likely begin teaching classes at Biola within the next year or two.
Currently, Campbell serves as the president of the National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology. Before becoming president, he attended as a delegate from George Fox for 12 years and was the president elect last year. He also recently finished serving as chair of committee for the American Psychological Association Committee on Rural Health.
Aside from holding leadership positions, Campbell has published numerous articles and co-authored a book, “Integrative Psychology” with Mark R. McMinn. As part of his duty as dean, Campbell also oversees “The Journal of Psychology and Theology,” which is a publication that comes out of Rosemead.
When it comes to studying, Campbell has a great interest in the psychological areas of schizophrenia, major depression and panic disorders.
“Those are very interesting to me in the way that our thinking affects us, and also the biological aspect of that, the way that our biochemistry shapes our experience as well,” he said.
Campbell previously worked in a mental hospital with a large number of schizophrenics but has worked more with major depression and panic disorders in the last several years.
As far as the psychology program at Biola is concerned, Campbell joined the university with a vision for Rosemead, which includes developing new programs, some of which may have an international focus.
“I’d like to see us continue with the high quality programs that we have,” Campbell said. “Our graduates of our doctoral program are sought out for a number of positions and have done very well and have a great reputation in training in our doctoral level.”
