Jim Campbell, a Maryville native and an Oak Ridge resident for nearly 30 years, is President of the East Tennessee Economic Council and a Fellow at the Howard Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee. Campbell started his career in the newspaper business, serving in various positions with The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge’s daily newspaper since the end of the Manhattan Project. He was the editor of the newspaper from 1987 to 1994. During that time he was also a contributing editor to the Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, a publication of the University of Tennessee’s Energy, Environment and Research Center. Campbell also assisted in the publication of two books on Oak Ridge history. Campbell’s work at the Baker Center focuses on the intersection of science, environmental studies, and engineering on policies related to energy, national security and environmental protection.
Campbell is a graduate of Maryville College, and the University of Oregon. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economic history. Campbell is the past chairman of the United Way of Anderson County, and isa member of the boards of the American Museum of Science and Energy, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, East Tennessee Quality Growth, the Oak Ridge Sister City Support Group, and Technology 2020 (a high-tech business incubator).