Frederick S. Carney was professor of Moral Theology and Christian ethics at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology for 33 years. In that role, he influenced the practice of ethics and shaped many lives. Dr. Carney was born in Atlantic City, N.J., and graduated from high school in Pleasantville, N.J. After graduating high school, a local Methodist preacher arranged for him to attend Pennington Preparatory School for a year to compensate for the public school education that was available at the time. He received his bachelor's degree from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., where he joined the Navy V-12 program and prepared to become a Navy chaplain. During World War II, he enrolled at Garrett School of Theology at Northwestern University and earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree.

Dr. Carney became convinced of the importance of the world government movement before the United Nations had been established, and after graduation, traveled to England to work with Henry Charles Usborne, a British Labour politician and organizer of the World Federalist Movement established prior to the foundation of the United Nations. Dr. Carney returned to the U.S. and supported a strong approach to international cooperation by heading World Republic, formed on February 3, 1947, as an outgrowth of a Northwestern University student group called Students for Federal World Government that maintained a platform to achieve a world federal government. After meeting and marrying his wife Kim, he entered the University of Chicago to begin a doctoral degree in ethics. While a doctoral student, he served as a Methodist pastor. He became Chaplain of the University of Chicago after earning his doctorate in 1960. Their sons Peter, David, and Paul, who died in 1987, were born while he was Chaplain. A fourth son, Dan, was born two months after the family moved to Dallas when Dr. Carney joined the faculty at Perkins School of Theology.

Dr. Carney’s passion for teaching, along with his genuine care for humanity, could be seen in how he modeled the value of speaking out against injustice, even when doing so was unpopular. After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Dr. Carney wrote a paper, “Crisis of Conscience in Dallas,” in which he stated, “President Kennedy was assassinated by one man . . . But he was also assassinated by hatred, by intolerance, and by reckless disrespect for high public office. In this sense, Dallas, together with many other American cities, surely is responsible for his death.” As a result of his writing, he was called to testify at a change-of-venue hearing for Jack Ruby who was charged with killing Lee Harvey Oswald. Dr. Carney was part of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march in 1965. In 1990, when many clergy in the United States opposed the Persian Gulf War, Dr. Carney spoke out in favor. His scholarly activity was lived in the many ways his moral responsibility led him to voice what he believed, knowing that others might not be able to speak out.

As a scholar, Dr. Carney wrote numerous articles and books. His 1964 translation of Politica, the 1614 main work of Calvinist philosopher Johannes Althusius, is still in use. The translation was reprinted in 1995 with Dr. Carney’s comments on additional research. Dr. Carney’s areas of inquiry and research included bio-ethics and the ethical common ground shared by Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. He spent a year in Egypt studying Arabic and Muslim thought.

As a professor at Perkins School of Theology, Dr. Carney chaired a curriculum review committee that established the school’s intern program, now a model in theological education. He organized the Perkins Faculty Symposium in 1975, which continues to provide a venue for professors to discuss scholarly projects. Dr. Carney also started the Ethics Colloquy, where ethicists from SMU and other local universities engage in dialogue related to the study and practice of ethics. He was also a co-founder of the Journal of Religious Ethics.