Ken and Lois Marshall

Born in St. Louis in 1926, Richard Lawrence ‘Larry’ Carp was a man of many interests. Educated in St. Louis, Paris, and Geneva, Switzerland, Dr. Carp was keenly interested in public affairs and the law. After interning in the legal division of the United Nations, he worked for the State Department’s Young Officer Corps during his last year of law school. Dr. Carp served as an immigration attorney for over 40 years. He was passionate about his immigration work, because, as he noted in an interview in 2006, “It’s important for people to be able to go from Country A to Country B to develop their fullest potential, ethically, morally and legally; to make a contribution to Country B they would not have made if they had not got there.”

Dr. Carp’s public service extended well beyond his work. He actively participated as a Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and on the Board of Trustees of the English Speaking Union, St. Louis Center for International Relations, George Engelmann Mathematics and Science Institute. He was instrumental in establishing the Academy of Science of St. Louis.

In addition to his interest in immigration, law, and science, Dr. Carp was a poet and composer. Although his songs were unpublished during his lifetime, he also wrote four full-length musicals, “For the Love of Adam,” “The Red Ribbon,” “Famous Last Words,” and “God Knows,” all of which have been produced.

Dr. Carp’s sister and brother-in-law, Lois and Ken Marshall, established the Larry Carp Memorial Scholarship in his honor to assist immigrants (and children of immigrants) in pursuing degrees in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) fields of study.