Campbell Leaper received a B.A., magna cum laude, with honors distinction in Psychology from Boston University. He was also awarded Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Chi. His primary mentors at BU were Jean Berko Gleason and George Michel.

After finishing his bachelor’s degree, Leaper worked as a research assistant at the Boston Veteran Administration Hospital's Aphasia Research Center with Harold Goodglass, Margaret Naeser, and Martin Albert. He also worked as a research assistant at the Education Development Center in Massachusetts.

Campbell Leaper did his graduate studies in psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he received his Ph.D. in Psychology. He specialized in developmental psychology. In addition, he completed one minor in social psychology and a second minor in language disorders. His mentors included Patricia Greenfield (advisor and dissertation co-chair), Nancy Henley (dissertation co-chair), Nancy Rader, Rosslyn Gaines, and Christiane Baltaxe.

Leaper's early graduate research focused on the pragmatic aspects of children's language development and language disorders. He collaborated with Patricia Greenfield on a study into the functions of young children's language use (see Greenfield, Leaper, Reilly, & Baker, 1985). This was followed by a stint as a Research Associate at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. Leaper managed a project for Rosslyn Gaines investigating communication training in nonverbal children (see Gaines, Leaper, Weickgnant, & Monahan, 1988). During this time, Leaper also completed training in language disorders with Christiane Baltaxe at the Neuropsychiatric Institute. His work included a study of thought-disordered schizophrenic children's discourse (see Leaper & Emmorey, 1985).

His broader interest in the pragmatic/social functions of language led to a shift in Leaper’s research focus. In particular, he became interested in how language is used to create, maintain, and transform gendered relationships. Nancy Henley became an important mentor during this period. Leaper conducted a study with the assistance of several undergraduate assistants on self-perceived agency and communion as predictors of communication style (see Leaper, 1987). He also evaluated how gendered terminology biased people's perceptions (see Leaper, 1995). For his dissertation, Leaper examined gender- and age-related variations in children's communication (see Leaper, 1991). His dissertation committee comprised Patricia Greenfield (co-chair), Nancy Henley (co-chair), Anne Peplau, Emanuel Schegloff, Thomas Weisner, and Thomas Wickens. 

During his latter graduate years as a graduate student, Leaper was an instructor at California State University at Fullerton (1981-1982), California State University at Long Beach (1982-1986), California State University at Northridge (1984-1986), and Santa Monica Community College (1983-1986). 

After completing his doctorate, Campbell Leaper was a Research Fellow in Psychology at Harvard Medical School for two years. He collaborated with his mentor Stuart Hauser on a longitudinal project of adolescent psychosocial development (see Leaper, Hauser et al., 1989).

Also, at this time, Leaper reunited with his former Boston University undergraduate mentor, Jean Berko Gleason, to collaborate on a study examining gender-related variations in parent and child communication during different play activities (see Leaper & Gleason, 1996). He also started work on a review of studies examining gender-related variations in parents' speech to their children that later turned into a meta-analytic review (see Leaper, Anderson, & Sanders, 1998). 

Professor Leaper joined the Psychology faculty at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1988. He has collaborated with several UCSC undergraduate and graduate students in his research on gender and sexism.  (See links at top of this page to "Research" and "Publications") for more information.) 

Professor Leaper was the Founding Provost of College Nine and College Ten (now John R. Lewis College) as well as Associate Dean of Social Sciences (2000-2006). He also served as director of the developmental psychology graduate program (1991-1992, 2007-2010, 2014-2015, 2023) and chair of the psychology department (2015-2019). He has been honored with the title of Distinguished Professor of Psychology (2020-present).

Professor Leaper was awarded the Golden Apple Apple Teaching Award (2010) and the Martin M. Chemers Award for Outstanding Research (2021). In addition, he is a Fellow and founding member of the Association for Psychological Science, a Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, a member of the Society for Research in Child Development, and a member of the Society for Research on Adolescence.

Finally, Professor Leaper hosted the Gender Development Research Conference (GDRC) in San Francisco between 2004-2018, which he co-founded and co-chaired with his colleague, Professor Carol Martin. (The conference was preceded with SRCD pre-conferences in 2001 and 2003 that Leaper and Martin also co-organized.) The GDRC  was attended by leading researchers and graduate students in the field, and it was commonly considered attendees' favorite conference. Unfortunately, due to rising conference costs after the pandemic, it was no longer economically feasible to continue the conference.

• Department Chair, Psychology Department (2015-2019)
• Director, Graduate Program in Developmental Psychology (1991-1992, 2007-2010, 2014-2015, 2023)
• Interim Provost of College Nine and College Ten (2014)
• Chair, Review Committee: Education Abroad in the Netherlands, University Committee on International Education (2013-2014)
• Chair, Academic Assessment Grievance Committee, Academic Senate (2008-2013)
• Member, Executive Committee and Academic Standing Committee, College Ten (2007-2014)
• Chair, Title IX Advisory Committee (2001-2003)
• Associate Dean of Social Sciences (2000-2006)
• Founding Provost of College Nine and College Ten (2000-2006)
• Vice-Chair, Psychology Department (1997-2000)
• Chair, Committee on Teaching, Academic Senate (1997-1999)