Ann Campbell graduated from RPI with a bachelor's degree in materials engineering in 1979. She went on to earn a master' s degree in applied physics in 1980 from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1985.

Campbell is currently the director for Weapons Design & Assurance at Sandia National Laboratories; Sandia is a multi-program Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the National Nuclear Security Agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. Campbell has held many positions within Sandia, developing and leading programs to address a broad range of national security challenges, and her research as a principal member of Sandia's technical staff is focused on development of advanced materials and microelectronics assessment techniques.

In addition to her responsibilities at Sandia, Campbell has served on several National Academies committees focused on technology and capability surprise. She is a senior member of IEEE, has served as an officer of the IEEE Reliability Society, and is also an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow (2009 – 2010 Class).