When asked what brought him to Newman University for his studies, Jonathan David “JD” Campbell puts it simply: “Baseball, baseball, baseball.”
Now, Campbell is sharing his career and life experiences with students in Newman’s sports media and promotion program.
“I taught for eight years at Indiana University and thought this would be a good change for me at this time in my career,” Campbell said of his teaching position.
Zach Brake, assistant athletic director for communications, said, “Having JD back in our Newman community has been a blessing through and through. JD brings a wealth of knowledge that he imparts upon his students. His teaching takes lessons far beyond the classroom and shines light on real world impacts of his work through the years.”
Campbell added that his favorite part of teaching is developing relationships with his students. And his No. 1 piece of advice to these students is this: “You can go anywhere if you do things the right way.”
For Campbell, attending Newman was one of those things.
As a baseball player, he earned All-American honors in 1985. He also met his wife, Kerri, at Newman. They’ve since been married for 36 years. The couple has two sons: Jon, who’s a police officer in South Bend, Indiana, and Chris, who graduated from Newman in 2018 and is the creative director for the Ohio State football team.
Campbell himself majored in communication with the intent of becoming a sports anchor but ended up in the field of collegiate media relations instead.
He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1986 before getting into the industry. For the past 16 years, he’s worked for the Indiana University basketball program. Prior to that, he worked for a number of institutions, including Johnson County Community College, Northern Kentucky University, Emporia State and Bowling Green.
You can go anywhere if you do things the right way.
JD Campbell
In addition to his full-time role at Indiana University, Campbell serves on the executive board for the College Sports Information Directors of America.
He ultimately feels that Newman has impacted every facet of his journey.
“It’s given me most everything in my life,” he said.
Earn a Sports Media & Promotion Degree
Our sports media & promotion program is a great way to remain close to the sports action while preparing you for an exciting career in a wide variety of professional industries.
