Governor Hodges Awards Order of the Palmetto to Dr. Mitchell Carnell

September 29, 2000

Governor Jim Hodges today awarded the Order of the Palmetto to Dr. C. Mitchell Carnell, Jr., Ph.D.

“Mitch Carnell has been a leader in speech pathology and a tireless advocate for the disabled in South Carolina,” Hodges said. “We are proud to honor him with the Order of the Palmetto.”

Carnell, a native of Woodruff, served as Executive Director of the Charleston Speech and Hearing Center from 1964 to 1999. The Center now serves more that 6,500 patients each year.

In 1965, Carnell founded the first day-school for the hearing-impaired in South Carolina. He also founded the first day camp for deaf and blind children in the state.

Carnell helped write legislation permitting four-year-old hearing-impaired students to attend public schools. As president of the South Carolina Speech and Hearing Association, Carnell helped pass legislation outlining licensure regulations for speech pathologists and audiologists. In 1972, Carnell became the first licensed speech pathologist in  South Carolina.

Mitch Carnell’s Distinctive Service (From the Charleston Post & Courier, May 29, 2000)

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month. The observance suggests a timely moment to pay tribute to one of our area’s most tireless advocates for effective speaking and enhanced hearing.

Dr. C. Mitchell Carnell Jr. retired in October 1999 as executive director/CEO of Charleston Speech and Hearing Center. Through the 35 years of his leadership, Mitch served the center with distinction. He helped to establish and maintain its good reputation in the Charleston area, indeed throughout the state, for providing sensitive, quality care to patients and families of all socio-economic levels.

His fair-mindedness and belief in the essential worth and goodness of persons, clients and staff alike, made Charleston Speech and Hearing Center a great place to work and an inviting provider of services.

Ever generous toward his friends and charitable toward all others, Mitch’s consistent good humor, unflagging optimism and indomitable spirit endeared him to the Charleston community early in his career. His personal and professional integrity have earned him the wide respect of friends and colleagues throughout the nation.

A recent issue of The ASHA Leader, the journal of the American Speech and Hearing Association, appropriately gave notice of Mitch’s retirement as one who had been honored by being named an ASHA Fellow, a distinction afforded to few professionals in his field.

Many of his friends in the Charleston area have known him best through the years as a tireless worker in his beloved First Baptist Church. Others recognize him as a civic leader who has labored for the good of the wider community. As an adjunct professor at Webster, CSU and The Citadel, Mitch has established himself as a competent educator. And his monthly column in the Business Review of The Post and Courier enjoys a loyal following.

Mitch’s reputation and influence extend far beyond the Lowcountry. He has led workshops all over the country and, as well, has been a featured speaker at international conferences of speech and hearing professionals in Ireland and in Australia. Not bad for a Woodruff boy.

Most importantly, at least in our judgment, by the integrity of his character and consistency of his conduct, Mitch provides a convincing model of a life energized, guided and sustained by a vital and convincing faith in God.

On the occasion of his retirement, we congratulate our friend and honorary-clergy colleague, Mitch Carnell.

Wendell T. Guerry

Robert M. Knight

W. Scott McBroom