James Carroll knew the transformative power of education from his own experiences at LeMoyne College and Syracuse University and centered his career on supporting future generations of students.

Project LEGAL was among his many accomplishments. A constitutional law program for elementary and secondary American history teachers, it was adopted in 34 states. More recently, he convened workshops that offered public policy skills for teachers and students in disadvantaged schools.

Carroll, who retired in early 2024 as a research associate professor at Maxwell, passed away on June 21, 2025. He earned a master’s degree in social studies education from the University’s School of Education in 1970, followed by a Ph.D. in social science from Maxwell in 1985.

From Binghamton, New York, Carroll attended the former St. Patrick’s Academy. His father died shortly before he began his undergraduate studies, but he persevered, supported by his mother, who helped with his tuition payments by tapping into family savings and stocks. Carroll worked numerous jobs to help with the payments and cover his own living expenses.

Before enrolling at Syracuse, Carroll taught high school social studies for several years. While a graduate student he worked at the University’s School of Education until 1987 when he joined the Maxwell faculty.

Carroll earned his doctorate under the guidance of mentor Bill Coplin, professor and founder of policy studies. “His work pushed our approach to government into a high school framework that focused on more law-related ideas, and he received millions of dollars of federal funds to bring his vision to life,” said Coplin, who guided Carroll on disseminating his constitutional law program across New York state. “He was an inspiration to our work on high school and college curriculum.”

Over the course of his career, Carroll expanded his focus to other educational avenues, including gifted education, American history, character education and technology. He secured 35 competitive New York State and U.S. Department of Education grants totaling over $25 million. He also developed a juvenile diversion program to provide minors an alternative to the criminal justice system. 

“Through all his projects and training workshops he connected with teachers with his irreverent humor, curiosity and willingness to help teachers reach their students,” said Joseph Montecalvo ’90 M.A. (PSc) who was hired as a grad student to assist Carroll with Project LEGAL.

Montecalvo, a consultant and staff member at Le Moyne College, worked with Carroll for 30 years. “His legacy will live on in the thousands of teachers who participated in his programs and continue to use the materials and methods he transmitted,” said Montecalvo. “Jim always enjoyed getting to know the teachers on a personal level over dinner, drinks or shared outings.”

Carroll was a devoted husband to his wife, Mary, for 58 years. They had seven children and eight grandchildren. The Carrolls were fixtures at local live concerts and die-hard supporters of Syracuse basketball and football. He also loved going to plays and never missed an opportunity to take one in during his countless trips to New York City for teacher workshops in Harlem and the Bronx.