John Angus Campbell

John Angus Campbell (born March 10, 1942) is an American former professor of communication and rhetoric at the University of Memphis who argues that the religious idea of intelligent design should be mentioned in schools when teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. He was a fellow of the Center for Science and Culture (CSC), the subsidiary promoting creationism of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based conservative think tank; he became a fellow of the Discovery Institute in 1995. He was a fellow in communications of the now-defunct International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID), whose tagline was "retraining the scientific imagination to see purpose in nature".

Personal life On March 10, 1942, he was born in Portland, Oregon. He continued to be raised in the Pacific Northwest.

He was a member of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in Oregon, receiving the Eagle Scout award and becoming a member of the Order of the Arrow. In 1960, he worked for the Forest Service, doing "minor surveying and major brush whacking". From 1960 to 1968, he did various door-to-door sales in Oregon and Northern California. In 1996, he wrote an essay on teaching titled "Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom". a collection of articles primarily from a 1998 issue of the journal Rhetoric and Public Affairs published by Michigan State University Press, purporting a scientific basis for intelligent design. Southern Journal of Communication, and Rhetoric and Public Affairs. From 2003 to 2004, he was Secretary American Branch Society for the History of Rhetoric at SSCA. Starting in 1997, he was Associate Editor of Origins & Design published by the Access Research Network. In 2000, he was Associate Editor for Poroi, published by the University of Iowa. In the summer of 1990, he was Guest Editor for a special issue on rhetorical criticism of the Western Journal of Speech Communication, published by U of Iowa. In 1998, he was Guest Editor for a special issue on Intelligent Design & Public Policy for Rhetoric and Public Affairs, published by U of Iowa. In 1994, he was on U of Iowa's Wichelns/Winans Award Committee. Starting in 1994, he was on U of Iowa's Woolbert Award Committee, being chair in 1996. Starting in 1999, he was on U of Iowa's Dissertation Award Committee. From 2002 to 2003, he was on U of Iowa's Gerald (R.) Miller Dissertation Award Committee. From 2002 to 2003, he was on U of Iowa's Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award Committee. In 2002, he represented U of Iowa at the NCA/NSF conference in Leesburgh, Virginia. From 1997 to 1998, he was President of the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science & Technology. From 1997 to 1999, he was chair of the Rhetoric & Public Address Division of the Tennessee State Communication Association. From 1995 to 1996, he was chair of the Committee on Program Viability for the Southern States Communication Association. He participated in the Tenure/Promotion Assessments for Dr. Marouf Hasian at Arizona State University in 1997, Dr. Jeff[rey S.] Philpott at Seattle University in 1998, and Dr. William Purcell at Seattle Pacific University in 1998. He participated in the Grant Application Evaluation for Dr. Judy Segal at University of British Columbia in 1998. He participated in the Tenure/Promotion Assessments for Dr. Eric Gander at Baruch College in the City University of New York and Dr. Ken Zagacki at University of North Carolina in 2002. From 2003 to 2004, he was Secretary American Branch International Society for the History of Rhetoric of the Southern States Communication Association. From 2005 to 2006, he was Second Vice President, in charge of program planning, at the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology. However, he did not disclose his connections to intelligent design; in a telephone interview he stated that he would not be dealing with curricula, and that he is a "Darwinist" who considers that debating Darwin can engage the interest of students and improve their skills in critical thinking. He was quoted as saying "Rather than demonizing people that believe in ID, I think there are ways people could use their ideas to study Darwinism more closely." He said that he "doorbelled about a thousand homes and apartments and talked to an equal number of people in the parking lots of Safeway and QFC. People are really concerned about the reputation and image of the schools." The election was held on November 6, 2007, and results showed him defeating the incumbent Glenn Landram by 2,216 votes to 992; he said that he was "really grateful to the people of this community for the trust and confidence they have placed in" him. At a special meeting on December 14, 2023, he retired from his position as District 4 Director of the North Mason School Board; the board unanimously voted to replace him with Nicholas Thomas.

Involvement in the trial Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) named him, among others, as an expert witness for the defense in the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. In early 2005, Susan Spath, Public Information Director at the National Center for Science Education, aided by activists contributing to a Wiki page, spent most of two months analyzing his expert report and his writings, in order to help the plaintiff criticize and question him during his deposition, which was scheduled to occur on June 2, 2005. At 9 AM on June 2, 2005, Pepper Hamilton attorney Thomas Schmidt III and legal assistant Kate Henslow, representing the plaintiffs, were waiting in Memphis, Tennessee, to take his deposition, with the help of a court reporter they hired. Campbell, TMLC attorney Pat Gillen, and a lawyer from the Discovery Institute arrived, and Gillen announced that Campbell was withdrawn from the case, so the deposition was cancelled. Campbell was the first, but other expert witnesses also subsequently withdrew from the case.

Campbell, as well as Stephen Meyer and William Dembski, all fellows of the Discovery Institute (DI), were willing to testify as expert witnesses under the condition that they have their own independent legal counsel with them during their depositions, but Richard Thompson, lead attorney for TMLC, refused to allow their request, citing a conflict of interest, but without providing legal justification for this. This disagreement resulted in the cancellation of their depositions. This resulted in an amplification of conflict between the TMLC and the DI.

The withdrawal of the expert witnesses hurt the defense's ability to support their side.

Campbell's opinions are stated in his expert report.