Doris Loveday Carver passed away peacefully on February 11, 2024, at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center at age 77 after a long struggle in the hospital. Doris was born in Sevierville, Tennessee in a small house in Happy Hollow. She and her husband moved to Baton Rouge in 1978 where she lived thereafter. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, James (Jim) Carver of Baton Rouge; her son, Jeffrey Carver, her daughter-in-law, Cathy Carver, and her grandchildren, Claire Carver and Joel Carver of Hover, AL; her sister-in-law, Carolyn Setliff of Little Rock, AR; her brother-in-law Robert Guinn from Charlotte, NC, her aunt and uncle Marilyn and Bill Johnson of Maryville, TN; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son Robert (Bobby) Carver of Baton Rouge; her mother and father, Ruth and Lloyd Loveday of Sevierville, TN; her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Lorena and Clark Carver of Lake Charles; her sister, Evelyn Guinn of Charlotte, NC; her sister-in-law, Clarene Valentine of Tulsa, OK; and her brother-in-law, Lamar Setliff of Little Rock, AR.
Doris received a BA degree in Mathematics from Carson Newman College in Tennessee, a MS degree in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University.
After receiving her MS degree, she worked at Oak Ridge Nuclear Division for several years as a computer programmer. After marrying Jim Carver, she followed him to Athens Georgia, where she taught high school mathematics. She then followed Jim to College Station where she earned her doctorate.
Her first academic position after receiving her doctorate was as Department Chair at Southeastern Louisiana University. She joined the faculty at Louisiana State University (LSU) a few years later. At the time of her death Doris was a Chaired Professor of Computer Science at LSU. She was on the faculty at LSU for about 40 years. During her tenure at LSU, Doris took a leave to be director of the EPSCOR program for Louisiana. She also spent several years in administration at LSU as Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Development and one year as acting Vice Chancellor of Research and Development. Doris spent four years at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington DC as a program officer for computer science. During her time at LSU Doris directed the research for numerous Ph.D. and M.S. students. Probably other than her children and grandchildren, nothing made Doris prouder than the work and successes of her students.
Doris was active in the IEEE Computer Society to which she was elected as President in 1998. As president she got to visit numerous countries on official business including Japan, China, England, Germany, and Hungry. While in Japan she ate dinner with the crown prince and experienced her first earthquake. In China, she visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
Doris was an untiring supporter and lover of people. She dearly loved and supported her two sons, Jeff and Bobby, both of whom earned their Ph.D. Jeff is a computer scientist like Doris and Bobby was a physicist before his unfortunate death. She also loved her daughter-in-law Cathy and was equally proud of her recent doctorate in physical therapy. But she really loved her two grandchildren, Claire and Joel.
The celebration of Doris’s life will be conducted by the Reverent Scott Graham in the Chapel at First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, 763 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA. 80802 on Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 11:30 AM with visitation from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Burial will follow at Green Oaks Memorial Park. The family wishes to thank the medical team at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, especially the nurses in the ICU, the 6000 floor, and the PCU. Further, the care and treatment provided by the physicians at Renal Associates of Baton Rouge, and especially Dr. Mitchel Hebert, was unparalleled. Doris would have encouraged everyone to consider being an organ donor. Memorials may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, and online condolences may be given to www.rabenhorst.com.
