It is with great sorrow that I share with you the news of the passing of Professor
Emeritus Russell N. Campbell, following a short battle with a reoccurrence of
cancer. Lovingly surrounded by his wife, Marge, children Paula and Roger, and
grandchildren, Rainbow and Jeramiah, Russ passed away quietly this morning at
home.
Russ served as professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the
Department of Applied Linguistics & TESL from 1964 to 1991, with a lengthy history
of administration and service to the department and university as a whole. From
1974 to 1979, Russ served as Vice-Chair of the Department of English, in charge
of the TESL section; when the Department of TESL was established in 1979, he
became the first Chair of the Department, a post he held until 1986. In that
same year, he became the Director of what is now known as the Language Resource
Center, a position he retired from in June 2001.
After his retirement that year, Russ continued as PI on many LRC research projects.
From 1986 to 1989, he served first as Associate Director, later as Director,
of the UCLA Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR); from 1990 to
1992 he served as Acting Director of the UCLA Center for Pacific Rim Studies,
and from 1979 on he served as Director of many UCLA-affiliated TESL programs
in such diverse locales as Mexico, Korea, Armenia, Japan, and France. Although
he formally retired as professor from the Department of Applied Linguistics
and TESL in 1991, to the end, Russ remained intimately and actively involved
in Master's Theses, Doctoral Qualifying Papers and Doctoral Dissertation committees
for students in the graduate program of Applied Linguistics & TESL.
In 1990, Russ became Dean of the English Department of the American University
of Armenia, a position he held until his death. He has been of enormous influence
on the field of Applied Linguistics: a tireless thinker, imagineer, and advocate
for innovative language education and research projects across the globe, as
well as being to so many a true friend and mentor, ever ready to try new things
and charge off on new adventures.
Details regarding a memorial service will be forthcoming. The family requests
that no flowers be sent. As we have information regarding a memorial fund, that
information will be sent along as well.
Please feel free to forward this to those who knew and loved Russ.