later in the 1920s, campbell began attending george peabody college for teachers, receiving a master's degree in 1928 and a ph.d. in 1930, at which time he was hired onto the school's faculty. he became dean of the graduate school at peabody in 1938, and remained in that position until accepting the presidency of florida state college for women in september 1941. while at peabody, campbell was also a member of the state board of education and the board's middle tennessee committee and came under criticism for his handling of an academic freedom and tenure case in which a tenured teacher had been fired without stated cause.