This article is about the California politician, for the Scottish poet, see: Thomas Campbell

Thomas J. Campbell (b. August 14, 1952) has been the Director of Finance for the State of California since December 1, 2004. From 2002 to 2004 he served as the dean of the Haas School of Business and a professor of business administration at the University of California, Berkeley; he is currently on leave. As an American politician of the Republican Party he served five terms in the United States House of Representatives.

Born in Chicago, Campbell obtained his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Chicago (1973) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1976). He returned to the University of Chicago to earn a Ph.D. in economics in 1980. His mentor was Milton Friedman and he became a Republican while at Chicago, though born to a Democratic family.

Campbell was admitted to the bar in 1976 and commenced practice in Chicago. He was a White House Fellow in the office of the chief of staff and White House counsel (1980-1981). He then served as director of the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission (1981-1983).

Campbell was a professor at Stanford Law School from 1983 until 2002 (though he was "on leave" from 1988 to 2002), becoming the youngest Stanford professor ever awarded tenure. Representing the Silicon Valley of California, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives five times. Elected to the 101st and 102nd Congresses (January 3, 1989-January 3, 1993), he was not a candidate for renomination in 1992 to the 103rd Congress but was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination for the United States Senate. He then served in the California State Senate from 1993 to 1995. He was elected to the 104th Congress on December 12, 1995, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Norman Mineta and reelected to the 105th and 106th Congresses (December 12, 1995, to January 3, 2001); was not a candidate in 2000 for reelection, but was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate against Dianne Feinstein. Among his legislative accomplishments were authorship of the 1998 Food Bank Relief Act and the 2000 Peace Corps Reauthorization Act . He was succeeded in the House by Mike Honda.

As Dean of the Haas School, Campbell stressed the study of corporate social responsibility and business ethics amid an era of corporate scandals. A full-fledged Center for Responsible Business was established. In September 2004, Campbell was named by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to his newly formed Council of Economic Advisors.

On November 4, 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Campbell director of the California Department of Finance. Campbell took a leave of absence from his university post and assumed his new position on December 1.

External link

• Haas profile