Campbell wins Distinguished Service Award.

• Position: News & Trends

FOR HIS TIRELESS EFFORTS on behalf of the CPA profession, Congressman John Campbell is CalCPA's 2006 Distinguished Service Award winner.

A fourth-generation Californian, U.S. Rep. Campbell was born in Los Angeles in 1955. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UCLA, and a master's degree in business taxation from USC. Campbell became a CPA in 1979, the same year he joined CalCPA as a tax accountant working for Ernst & Young.

He then turned his focus to automobiles, serving as president and CEO of Campbell Automotive Group, president and CEO of Saturn of Orange County and chairman and CEO of Saab of Orange County.

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But politics were to be his destiny.

He was elected to represent southern Orange County's 70th District in the state Assembly in 2000 and was re-elected in 2002. In 2004, Campbell won his bid to represent the 35th state Senate district.

As a senator, Campbell served as vice chair of the Business and Professions Committee and the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. He also was a member of the Senate's Energy, Utilities and Communications; Environmental Quality; and Government Modernization, Efficiency and Accountability committees.

"The Congressman was a vital ally during his years in the California legislature," says Gale Case, chair of CalCPA's Distinguished Service Award Committee. "He has been and remains an important friend of the profession in the halls of government."

During Campbell's tenure as a member of California's Assembly and Senate, he had a significant impact on the...