Fall 2012 Issue - Colby-Sawyer College

In Memoriam
Professor Emeritus Remembered
Boyd H. Carr
by J.M. Clark ’11
P
rofessor
Emeritus Boyd
Harding Carr Jr.
passed away
Nov. 23, 2011,
in New London
at the age of 95.
Professor Carr taught
classes in organic and
inorganic chemistry in the
Science Department at
what was then Colby Junior
College from 1964 to 1981.
He also held a leadership
position on the Campus
Energy Committee,
an early effort to reduce
energy consumption.
Born in Midland, Mich.,
on July 28, 1916, to
Boyd Harding Carr Sr.
and Mildred Sleight
Carr, Professor Carr was a
dedicated scholar and
graduated at the top of his
class from Midland High
School. At the University
of Michigan he majored in
chemical engineering, then
transferred to Middlebury
College, from which he
graduated with an A.B. He
later earned a master’s
degree and Ph.D. in
chemistry from Michigan
State University.
112 Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
Professor Carr was a
full-time research assistant
at Princeton University
during the Second World
War in metal organics,
plastics and special
electrics materials for the
U.S. Defense Department.
The materials were used
to build electrical components
needed for the
cockpit instruments of the
Corsair fighter planes.
At Norwich University in
Northfield, Vt., Professor
Carr began teaching
chemistry and served as a
member of the Vermont
Bureau of Industrial
Research. He also spent
time at the University of
Vermont as a National
Institute of Health Training
Fellow and laboratory
assistant in the medical
school. In addition to
these institutions and
Colby Junior College, he
also taught at Windham
College and Arizona
State University.
Professor Emerita
Rebecca “Becky” Brewster
Irving ’42 remembers
him as “popular with the
students,” and that they
would often refer to him as
Uncle Boyd. “He had a
Professor Carr had a good sense of humor and was popular
with students.
good sense of humor,
always got along well with
the students and was
a good colleague,” she
recalls.
Professor Carr is also
remembered for his many
hobbies, including skiing,
tennis and woodworking.
It was not unusual to find
him building additions onto
his home or repainting
his beloved Volkswagen.
He is survived by his
wife, Shirley (Lent) Carr
of New London, and
daughters Sandra,
Kimberly and Pamela.