Thomas Carpenter, former U of M president for 11 years, dies at 94
Dr. Thomas G. Carpenter, former University of Memphis president and the University of North Florida’s founding president, died on Wednesday, Jan. 6 in Winston-salem, North Carolina. He was 94.
In 1980, Carpenter became the 11th president of U of M, going on to hold the position for 11 years. He retired in 1991. His namesake is left on the campus’ Thomas G. Carpenter Student Housing Complex, which was constructed on the campus in 1990.
“The entire University of Memphis community is saddened to learn of Dr. Carpenter’s passing,” M. David Rudd, current U of M president, said in a statement. “He had a remarkable career, making a positive impact on so many lives in the process. We are forever grateful for his contributions and dedication to helping make our University the place it is today. The U of M sends its deepest condolences to his family.”
Before coming to Memphis, Carpenter served as UNG’S president between 1969 and 1980, where he organized staff and personally directed the campus’ development plans on the 1,000 acres of undeveloped land ahead of the university’s 1972 opening.
“Even his name foreshadowed a future of constructing northeast Florida’s first public university,” the student newspaper would write in a 2016 profile.
“The University of North Florida and the Osprey community are saddened about the loss of our founding president and one of its great leaders,” said UNF President David Szymanski. “Dr. Carpenter played a pivotal role in establishing our University and his lasting impact continues to be felt throughout the campus and among our faculty, staff and students. He will be greatly missed.”
Carpenter was a “primly dressed man, often donning suits, and had mature streaks of white that peppered his dark hair,” as noted by an archived story from the school’s student newspaper, the UNF Spinnaker. He was hands-on about the school’s trajectory, captured in multiple photos examining bricks and standing on roofs to observe construction.
Carpenter is the namesake of the Thomas G. Carpenter Library and strongly believed in university libraries’ importance. In 1981, the library was the first of all the campus buildings to be named. A news release notes that it is affectionately known as Tommy G’s.
“A devout believer in the necessity of a strong university library as a cornerstone in the educational process, Dr. Carpenter was an advocate of the UNF Library and saw it develop during his tenure into one of the finest to be found within the Florida State University System, the state and the region,” the news release said.
“He was a great, kind man,” said fellow-former UNF President John Delaney, who served from 2003 to 2018. “He built UNF from a swamp and raw woods, hired terrific faculty, some of whom remain from the early 1970s.”
A favorite story Delaney would tell is when, about a decade ago, he and Carpenter took a walk around campus. From all the development over the years, the school’s first president — who led the campus for more than a decade — was lost.
“In the early years, deer, wild hogs, turkeys, wildcats [and] alligators were frequent visitors,” Delaney told the Times-union. “When he started, if people can believe this, St. Johns Bluff, south of Beach Boulevard, was a dirt road. There was no J. Turner Butler Boulevard.”
Even Carpenter’s namesake, the library, has nearly doubled in size since his tenure. Though nearly unrecognizable because of expansions, the library still pays homage to Carpenter. In 2006, the library published a poster encouraging people to read that featured an archive photo of the thenPresident, grinning in front of a stack of books. By 2008, no worse for the wear but his hair a bit more silver, Carpenter was able to see the poster for himself.
On Facebook, former UNF students left tributes to Carpenter, remarking about the legacy he started.
“Loved him,” one comment said, “He was a class act!”
Delaney added, “he was very gracious to me, who came to his baby without an academic pedigree. I am the only president to serve UNF longer [than Carpenter himself ] and he was wonderfully kind about that.”
Before his tenure at UNF, Carpenter served at three other state universities: the University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University and the University of West Florida.
Born Feb. 27, 1926, Carpenter was a Navy Veteran, who served active duty at the end of World War II. In 1946, he was discharged and eventually attended the University of Memphis (thenMemphis State College).
Following his resignation from UNF, Carpenter would return to his alma mater and serve as president for 11 years until his retirement in 1991, where he would relocate to Blowing Rock, North Carolina with his late first wife, Oneida — whom UNF’S Lake Oneida is named after.
“His second wife was likewise a delight and they both enjoyed visiting the campus for major events down the years,” Delaney said.
Service information was not immediately available.
Commercial Appeal reporter Laura Testino contributed to this story.