The Semiotic Society of America laments the recent passing, twenty days shy of his 89th birthday, of one of our founding members, Dr. Charls Pearson (31 May 1932–2021 May 11), in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Pearson received in 1977 from the Georgia Institute for Technology the first Ph.D. in semiotics granted by an American university. He was a founding member of the Semiotic Society of America, a past member of its Executive Committee, and the founder of three of its Special Interest Groups: Special Interest Group for Empirical Semiotics (SIG/ES); Special Interest Group for Semiotics in the Southeast (SIG/SE); and Special Interest Group for Semiotics of Theology and Religion (SIG/STAR). He was a member of the American Society for Information Science and a founder of its Special Interest Group for The Foundations of Information Science. He specialized in the experimental, theoretical, and mathematical foundations of semiotics, and sought to apply semiotics to language, logic, music, and law.His semiotic interests led him to a rich if idiosyncratic development of what he called the Semiotic Paradigm along with its two associated theories: the Universal Sign Structure Theory (USST) and the Theory of Operational Semiotics (TOS). His contributions to the Society were many, including a memorable dance presentation with his beloved wife, Claire, at one of our annual meetings. A friend to many, he frequented sessions on Peircean theory, logic, and music (I was honored to collaborate with him on a pair of articles we wrote on analogues to the linguistic concept of aspect in music). Late in life, he traveled as “peoples’ ambassador” to China, where he helped edit the Chinese Journal of Semiotics, lectured widely, and directed graduate student theses. He will be remembered for his generosity to the Society and the Peirce Edition Project, as well as to community institutions such as the Atlanta Symphony (for his fund-raising achievement, he won the opportunity to conduct a Sousa march!). For other highlights of his career, see: https://avillager.academia.edu/CharlsPearson/CurriculumVitaeWe will miss Charls’s unflagging enthusiasm for semiotic theorizing, and his friendly presence at SSA meetings.–Robert S. Hatten, The University of Texas at AustinThe Passing of SSA Founding Member Charls Pearson, 1932–2021
The Semiotic Society of America laments the recent passing, twenty days shy of his 89th birthday, of one of our founding members, Dr. Charls Pearson (31 May 1932–2021 May 11), in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Pearson received in 1977 from the Georgia Institute for Technology the first Ph.D. in semiotics granted by an American university. He was a founding member of the Semiotic Society of America, a past member of its Executive Committee, and the founder of three of its Special Interest Groups: Special Interest Group for Empirical Semiotics (SIG/ES); Special Interest Group for Semiotics in the Southeast (SIG/SE); and Special Interest Group for Semiotics of Theology and Religion (SIG/STAR). He was a member of the American Society for Information Science and a founder of its Special Interest Group for The Foundations of Information Science. He specialized in the experimental, theoretical, and mathematical foundations of semiotics, and sought to apply semiotics to language, logic, music, and law.His semiotic interests led him to a rich if idiosyncratic development of what he called the Semiotic Paradigm along with its two associated theories: the Universal Sign Structure Theory (USST) and the Theory of Operational Semiotics (TOS). His contributions to the Society were many, including a memorable dance presentation with his beloved wife, Claire, at one of our annual meetings. A friend to many, he frequented sessions on Peircean theory, logic, and music (I was honored to collaborate with him on a pair of articles we wrote on analogues to the linguistic concept of aspect in music). Late in life, he traveled as “peoples’ ambassador” to China, where he helped edit the Chinese Journal of Semiotics, lectured widely, and directed graduate student theses. He will be remembered for his generosity to the Society and the Peirce Edition Project, as well as to community institutions such as the Atlanta Symphony (for his fund-raising achievement, he won the opportunity to conduct a Sousa march!). For other highlights of his career, see: https://avillager.academia.edu/CharlsPearson/CurriculumVitaeWe will miss Charls’s unflagging enthusiasm for semiotic theorizing, and his friendly presence at SSA meetings.–Robert S. Hatten, The University of Texas at Austin