After a professorship at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University during the '60's and '70's, Alan K. Campbell was tapped by President Jimmy Carter to be chair of the U.S. Civil Service Commission. In this position he led the legislative effort that resulted in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. President Carter then named him director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Dr. Campbell returned to higher education in 1990 as a visiting executive professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a position from which he retired in 1993. His honors included the Dwight Waldo Award for Contributions to the Literature of Public Administration, the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award, the Hubert H. Humphrey Public Service Award, and the Gunnar & Alva Myrdal Award for Government Service. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Whitman College, The Ohio State University, and Syracuse University.