Dr. Carl O. Thomas

Dr. Carl O. Thomas, 97, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tennessee, died Sunday, February 18, 2024. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Carl was a graduate of Phillips High School (1941) and Howard College (1947), now Samford University, earning degrees in mathematics and literature. He served in the United States Navy, training as a pilot from 1943 - 1947 during and after World War II and serving in active duty from 1950 - 52 during the Korean War. He completed a Master’s Degree in Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University (1949), married Martha Skinner in 1955, and completed a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1957. Upon completion of his PhD, he joined the research staff of Bell Telephone Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he worked on semiconductor materials and transistor development. Martha and Carl moved to Copenhagen, Denmark in 1963 while Carl served a year-long appointment as a visiting Fulbright Lecturer at the Technical University of Denmark. Carl and Martha then returned to Knoxville in 1964 and Carl served UT as Associate Dean of the Graduate School. He took a five-year hiatus from the University to found the Environmental Systems Corporation and to work as a staff member with the Institute for Energy Analysis in Oak Ridge. He then returned to UT as Dean for Research before joining the faculty of the department of Chemical Engineering, from which he retired.

“CarlO,” as he was affectionately called by his children and grandchildren, is the son of Susie Mae Pruett and Oscar Burton Thomas. Preceded in death by his precious wife of 65 years, Martha S. Thomas (1929 - 2020), he is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law Anne Thomas-Abbott (Glenn Abbott) and Shannon Catron (Gib Catron) of Knoxville; his grandchildren Reese Catron (Nashville, TN), Spencer Catron (Seattle, WA), and Benjamin Abbott (Johnson City, TN); his brother and sister-in-law John Oliver and Lee Thomas (Atlanta, GA); his nieces Jenny Thomas and Pam Farmer.

Carl will be interred in a private ceremony for immediate family. Friends and family who wish to leave a message of support or remembrance for the family may do so by visiting the Berry Highland Memorial website at www.berryhighlandmemorial.com. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests donations be made in Carl’s memory to either the Knox County Public Library Foundation or the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, 500 W. Church Ave., Knoxville, TN 37902.