The impressive legacy of the late J.W. Carmichael Jr., Ph.D., reaches across the generations and far beyond the university he called home for decades. Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Xavier University of Louisiana, Dr. Carmichael was effectively the nucleus of one of the most successful pre-medicine programs for African-American Students in the nation, allowing the country’s only historically Black and Catholic institution to uphold its own legacy as the top producer of Black graduates who go on to enter and complete medical school. He founded Xavier’s pre-college programs, which have provided generations of pre-college students with the stepping stones they needed to elevate and excel in their educational journeys throughout the past fifty years since he established them. Xavier and all the lives he touched mourn his passing and remember with joy the dedication and love he held for all who wish to learn.
President of Xavier University of Louisiana, Reynold Verret, sent a heartfelt message to the campus community at the news of the passing of Dr. Carmichael.
“We learned earlier this morning of the passing of Professor Emeritus J.W Carmichael. It is a cause for sadness, but also of joy as we recall his life of purpose and deep love for Xavier students and the decades of graduates blessed by his influence. Prof. Carmichael’s imagination and dedication shaped Xavier’s great work in STEM and pre-medical education and is a foundation for current and future work of the university. Professor Carmichael lived a calling as he gave of himself to Xavier students and colleagues. May we each take lesson from his example,” wrote President Verret.
Dr. Carmichael was born in 1940 in west Texas, though his family relocated to eastern New Mexico, where he graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1957. He earned his bachelor’s in chemistry and mathematics from Eastern New Mexico University in 1961. He later received his doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1965.
He found himself a professor of chemistry at Xavier starting in 1970. Hailed as the founding advisor of Xavier’s Pre-medical program, he came into the position in a rather unorthodox way with a little push from then-University President Dr. Norman C. Francis. Dr. Carmichael, concerned about students who wanted to apply to medical school, told President Emeritus Dr. Francis that someone needed to be dedicated to assisting students with their applications to medical school. President Emeritus Dr. Francis agreed… and told him to do it!
“Contrary to what some may think, Dr. Carmichael’s work as pre-medical advisor was not at all part of his original plan, nor was it his area of expertise. He constantly reminded everyone, ‘I’m a chemist!’ But he was a problem-solver first and foremost... To this day, Xavier receives consulting and interview requests to share the ‘magic’ that Dr. Carmichael and his colleagues created all those years ago and that has carried thousands of Xavierites into successful careers in the health professions,” wrote Xavier’s current Pre-medical Advisor, Quo Vadis “QV” Webster in a reflection on the evolution of Xavier’s pre-medical program. “Even people who didn’t attend Xavier have been impacted by him because they know someone who did.”
Dr. Carmichael’s aim to help students excel wasn’t restricted to aspiring medical professionals or those attending Xavier. In 1977, Dr. Carmichael established the SOAR (Stress On Analytical Reasoning) program to prepare high school students for the rigorous mathematical and scientific scholarship expected of them as undergraduates. SOAR’s sister program, SuperScholar EXCEL, catered to students interested in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In 2021, the two programs were combined to create SOAR X, which continues the legacies of its predecessors by offering two academic tracks: SOAR X STEM, which focuses on pandemics and public health disparities, and SOAR X Humanities, which focuses on protest and the power of civil disobedience.
For over four decades, Xavier pre-college programs have stayed true to Dr. Carmichael’s vision: cultivating curious, capable, and collaborative learners pursuing education and careers while increasing representation and diversity in science, engineering, technology, mathematics (STEM), and additional academic fields. Attendees of the summer program are welcome to apply to and attend Xavier as their university of choice, but recognizing the need for capable professionals to heal this broken world, all are encouraged to follow their dreams even to other universities.
Xavier was founded nearly 100 years ago by St. Katharine Drexel and her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament with a mission to educate its students to use their talents to promote a more just and humane society. Dr. Carmichael’s prolific decades of influence, continuing to touch current and future students, embody that mission.
“You should be aware that I routinely tell Xavier students that I think they are crazy to want to be a health professional because I faint when I smell ether or get in a room where there are bright overhead lights like those in an operating room,” Dr. Carmichael said in an interview with the “Journal of the National Medical Association” about Xavier’s incredible success in graduating Black future physicians, chemists, biologists, and other science-focused professionals. “When they ask how I reconcile that attitude with my being premed adviser, I just tell them that I don’t have to be crazy to help them become so.”
Xavier University of Louisiana, preparing to enter its second century of service, will continue to equip the “crazy” and talented students of the next generation with the tools they need to promote a more just and humane society and honor the legacy of the incredible Dr. Carmichael.