Charles Carley

Charles Team “CT” Carley, Jr. died 17 January, 2023 at the University of Arkansas Medical Center in Little Rock, AR. Born 27 December 1932 in Greenville, Mississippi to Charles Team Carley, Sr. and Ruby McClendon Carley, CT graduated from Vicksburg’s Carr Central High School where he served as President of the Senior Class. He attended Rice University and Mississippi State University, earning a Bachelor’s degree Mechanical Engineering, continuing with a Master’s from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now VA Tech), and a PhD from North Carolina State University, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow. He was a registered professional engineer. Carley was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity at MSU, where he served as President.

In 1954, Dr. Carley married Shirley Holland, also of Vicksburg, after having known her since nursery school. They raised four children: Karen Carley Walker (Ron) of Carrollton, Texas; Mari Carley Stermer (David) of Floyds Knobs, Indiana; Chip Carley of Starkville, Mississippi; and Holland Carley of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. He was beloved “Pop” to seven grandchildren: Zachariah Walker, Carley Walker, Timon Stermer, Samuel Stermer, Jonas Stermer, McKenzie Carley, and Morgan Carley, one great-grandchild, Amelia Jean Walker and two more on the way. Carley is also survived by his brother Dr. Gerald Carley (Mary Scott) of Knoxville, TN.

Carley served in the Civil Engineering Corps of the United States Navy in California and in the Philippine Islands. He was honorably discharged in 1958 with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. He accepted an assistant professorship in Mechanical Engineering at Mississippi State University in 1964, became a Professor of Mechanical Engineering in 1968, was appointed Head of the M.E. Department in 1969. MSU added the Nuclear Engineering Department in 1980 and the Petroleum Engineering Department in 1990 to his purview. Dr. Carley retired from MSU in 1993 and was named Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Department Head Emeritus that same year. Dr. Carley was honored to be a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1986 and at the National University Catamarca, Argentina in 1987.

While at MSU, Carley wrote a proposal to the Weyerhauser Corporation and to the Dow Chemical Company for Black Scholarship Programs that were both funded, and were the first scholarships for African Americans at MSU. He was a member of the first biracial North Mississippi Conference Board on Christian Social Concerns from 1967 to 1975, during the height of racial tensions in North Mississippi as well as during the merging of black and white Methodist Churches. Carley led the reorganization of the Starkville Parks and Recreation Commission after years of inactivity, resulting in all of their programs being open to all races. He was a charter member of the Starkville Citizens Advisory Committee (chair for two years), which was the first biracial city group in Starkville since reconstruction.

Carley was active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, serving in multiple State, Regional and National offices, and was elected to the Grade of Fellow in 1984. He served on the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology from 1981 to 1986, as a team member for eight universities and team chairman for 11 universities across the United States and internationally. Carley was appointed to the Mississippi Technical Advisory Committee on Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety (gubernatorial appointments) serving as Chairman from 1974-1988. Carley served on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Engineering Society Political Action Committee from 1988 to 1990.

Carley was active in the Mississippi Republican Party, serving as Faculty Advisor to College Republicans at MSU from 1978 -1989, in the American Cancer Society, in the First United Methodist Church as a Lay Leader from 1972-1975, and on the Commission on Religion and Race, North Mississippi Conference. He was a Delegation Leader for People-to-People International trips to the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1989 and to the USSR, Poland, and Bulgaria in 1991.

He was an active member of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, serving as President from 1976 to 1977. Carley served as President of the MSU Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi 1970 to1972, as President of the MSU Chapter of the Society of the Sigma XI, and was a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, Omicron Delta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, Alpha Nu Sigma, and Kappa Mu Epsilon. He was a reviewer for the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, for the Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics Institute, the International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education, and the National Science Foundation.

Carley was an avid long-distance and triathlon runner, hunter, fisherman, and SCUBA diver. He enjoyed singing with the FUMC Choir and the Starkville Symphony Chorus and loved the Barbershop Quartet. Carley was a fan of MSU sports, especially baseball and of Navy Football.

Carley has raced in numerous runs of varying lengths, including 20 half marathons, 13 marathons, 62 triathlons and five biathlons. He ran the Mississippi Marathon four times, the Mardis Gras Marathon twice, the Tupelo Marathon twice, and ran in the New York City Marathon, Honolulu Marathon, Buenos Aires Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the Walt Disney World Marathon. His hands-down favorite was the Heart O’Dixie Triathlon that he finished 26 times and, in later years, frequently won the “Oldest Finisher” award. His second favorite was the Run Thru History 10k that is held in the Vicksburg National Military Park, which he finished 29 times. Carley was instrumental in organizing the Frostbite Half Marathon in Starkville so that runners would have a local winter race in which to participate.

His love of hunting included rabbit hunting and he raised beagles for this purpose. Eventually, he purchased 170 acres in Clay County and commenced deer hunting. He built a house there in which many family celebrations were held. Carley had fished since he was a young boy, and fished from a boat his father had built from cypress which he donated to the Mississippi Wildlife Museum in Leland, MS. Carley especially enjoyed fishing the Gulf of Mexico; Buras, LA held a special place in his heart. On a family vacation in Hawai’i, he caught a 400 lb blue marlin (a bucket list item).

In addition to all of his many accomplishments he loved poetry and could quote many poems he learned in high school. He taught all of his grandchildren to play poker at a fairly young age telling their parents it helped them with math.
The family will host a wake on Saturday 21 January, 2023 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at 53 Claiborne Way. Burial will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Shirley Holland Carley Scholarship Fund at MUW. (https://longblueline.muw.edu)