John W. Campbell, Jr.

John Wood Campbell, Jr., generally known as John W. Campbell, (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was the influential editor of Astounding Science Fiction from 1937 until his death in 1971. After first establishing himself as a well-known science-fiction author, he then devoted himself exclusively to editing. As the editor of the most important magazine in the field, he launched the careers of most of the key figures in what is still generally known as the Golden Age of Science Fiction, including Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Theodore Sturgeon, A.E. van Vogt, and Arthur C. Clarke. Although Campbell had many eccentricities, some of which, such as a belief in psionics, later found their way increasingly into his publications in the 1950s and '60s, he remains, almost without question, the single most important figure in the development of modern science fiction, with the possible exception of his protégé Robert Heinlein.