Remembering Dr. Nolon Carter

BY DR. ED GOUGE, CHARLES E. DANIEL PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF CHEMISTRY

Frankly, in 1976 when I arrived on campus to interview for a vacant position, I knew very little about PC and Dr. Nolon Carter, the chemistry department chairman. After our initial meeting, he and I walked to Smith Administration Building and into the office of the academic dean. After a lengthy interview, I distinctly remember the dean glancing at Nolon who responded in turn with a simple nod.

As my career developed at PC, I learned more and more about Nolon’s personality. He was devoted to his work as a chemistry professor and researcher, a loving and dutiful husband to his dear wife, Eugenia (Genie, as we knew her), father to his son, Kenneth, and a man with the reputation of making physicians of students who survived his organic chemistry class. Regional admission officers knew that anyone who performed well in Nolon’s classes were well prepared to undertake the volume of work presented in medical school. The common bumper proclamation, “Honk if you passed organic!” surely pointed toward Nolon.

Particularly impressive was Nolon’s interest in flying. To learn to fly, he had enrolled in the Army Air Corps Program as an undergraduate student at Erskine College. The end of the war also ended his progress to become a pilot but not his aerial intentions as the photographs of him in a gyrocopter in his PC office attested. Not surprisingly, Nolon soon after retirement started the process of becoming a certified pilot. He once recruited me before his licensing exam to video his practice “short field” landings at the Laurens County airport. Without any lapses, he proudly passed the annual examinations for license renewal so he could continue to fly. And fly he did until the infirmities of old age forced him to land his craft for the last time.

Some people would describe Nolon as old-fashioned and conservative, but I would disagree with that assessment. Part of his personality was substantially progressive. When personal computers were introduced to the public, Nolon, recognizing the devices’ utility in education, moved quickly to place and use Apple II computers in PC’s chemistry department. At least two scholarly articles concerning applications of personal computers in chemical education were published by department faculty.

No recollection of Nolon Carter would be complete for me without stating how he affected me professionally. His early mentoring resulted in the improvement of my grading technique. Nolon encouraged me to become involved with the regional section of the American Chemical Society. He supported my participation in professional seminars, short courses, and sabbatical leaves. Often, he and I would sit in his office on Monday mornings and discuss the Bible study lessons we had led in our respective churches on the past Sunday. Nolon demonstrated the PC value of service to community and profession.

No matter your experience and dealing with Dr. Nolon Carter, you, as I, will always remember him. For me, his presence in life was a genuine treasure for chemistry, education, church, and PC.