Minister, enlightenment philosopher and Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen.
Campbell was born in 1719, the son of Rev. Colin Campbell, a Calvinist minister. He graduated M.A. from Marischal College in Aberdeen in 1738, continuing on to Edinburgh to study law. Following an apprenticeship to a Writer of the Signet, however, he decided to return to Aberdeen to study divinity. He passed his exams in 1746 and was ordained to the parish of Banchory in 1748.
Within a few years, Campbell also made a name for himself in the field of philosophy, and in 1759 he was appointed Principal of Marischal College, a position he held on to until his death in 1796.
He was a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1793.
Boswell met Campbell on August 23, 1773, as Campbell, Alexander Gordon, Thomas Gordon and Professor Ross came to visit Boswell and Johnson at their lodgings during their stay in Aberdeen. Later that morning they went together to see Marischal College, of which Campbell was Principal.