A Change of Scenery Leads to Lasting Connection

Stephen W. Carmichael '67 H'89

Dr. Stephen Carmichael and his wife, Dr. Susan Stoddard, plan ahead: He knew for four years when his last day of work at the Mayo Clinic would be, and he knew his first day of retirement would be spent flying to Munich for them to enjoy Oktoberfest.

After that vacation, Susan worked a decade more at the clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Stephen would drive her to work and spend the day at the clinic meeting friends for coffee, editing a journal and working out at the gym until she was ready to go home. He still regularly gives tours of the clinic's artwork by Rodin, Calder, Warhol and others.

And Stephen has planned an estate gift that will contribute to Kenyon's endowment for scholarship.

"Even 50 years out, I can still see how important Kenyon was to me. I've had a very successful career as an anatomist, and I owe that to Kenyon," Stephen says.

It's been a good life for someone who went to high school with George Lucas in Modesto, California. "I recognized the people who were the inspiration for the characters in 'American Graffiti,'" Stephen says.

When it was time to pick a college, he literally wanted a change of scenery.

"Modesto is in the Central Valley. It's very flat. There are no natural trees, beyond the almond trees that are agricultural," he says. "I had read books that talked about thunderstorms, but we never had thunderstorms in the valley. So when I was looking at colleges, I thought the idea of living on a hill with trees all around was way cool, instead of living among acres and acres of alfalfa and watermelon fields."

A physician who was a friend of the Carmichael family was a Kenyon graduate and recommended he look at the College instead of Stanford or the University of California at Berkeley. Stephen was accepted early decision and that was all he needed.

"My parents never got to campus even for my graduation. They didn't make it to Gambier until I got my honorary degree from the College in 1989. It was really nice to finally get them there!" he says.

After majoring in biology at Kenyon, he was one of 11 PhD students at Tulane University. "I felt head and shoulders better prepared than my contemporaries," Stephen says. "I just knew more of the basic biological principles. I had done research at Kenyon — creating the project, doing the research and writing it up. And that's what I did throughout my career."

After several years teaching at West Virginia University, Stephen joined Mayo's medical school staff in 1982. He retired in 2007 as a professor emeritus of anatomy and professor emeritus of orthopedic surgery.

Stephen serves as a class agent and member of the Kenyon Career Network and has served on reunion planning committees. He is proud that he is one of two members of the Class of 1967 to receive an honorary degree from Kenyon.

"I've given to Kenyon every year, even when I was in medical school. I understood that even giving $10 or $20 would make the percentage of giving by a class better and Kenyon would do better on getting grants," he says. "My wife and I did a good job planning for retirement. We are comfortable now. And it's important to give back to the College. Kenyon was at the top of my influences."

To learn how you can give back to Kenyon with a planned gift, contact Kate Daleiden at plannedgiving@kenyon.edu or 740-427-5729.