University of Mississippi students and colleagues knew James P. Chambers as a man who cared about his work, and, more importantly, cared about people.
Chambers, age 47, died on March 13 after his house caught fire during the night.
Faculty members walk across the stage to drop a flower in memory of James Chambers, a professor who died in a house fire on March 13. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, graduating summa cum laude, in 1990 from Georgia Tech. He was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity during his time there. He also earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the school, where he was a Hertz Foundation fellow and E.I. DuPont fellow as a graduate student.
Chambers joined UM in 1994 as a postdoctoral research associate at the National Center for Physical Acoustics and served as the center’s interim director during 2010-12. Since then, he had served as the associate dean for research and graduate programs in the University Of Mississippi School Of Engineering and as an associate professor of mechanical engineering.
William Chambers, Corter Diggs, and Jason Vallas play amazing grace during the memorial service Tuesday afternoon in the Gertrude C. Ford Center. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
Chambers also used his expertise to assist community groups with sound problems in auditoriums and church sanctuaries. He provided free consultations for organizations including the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, the Prentiss County Courthouse, College Hill Heights Baptist Church in Oxford and the United Methodist Church in Charleston.
“Not only was Jim a valuable member of our community and a wonderful colleague, to many of us he was a valued and trusted friend,” said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Morris Stocks. “As a community, we extend our deepest condolences to the Chambers family.”
Chambers volunteered as committee member, crew adviser and STEM merit badge counselor for Boy Scout troops and Venturing Crews in Oxford. He also served as an instructor at Camp Yocona in Pontotoc County, provided computer support to area Cub Scouts packs for their Pinewood Derby races and was a volunteer leader with Boy Scout Troop 146.
Jeffrey S. Vitter, chancellor of the University of Mississippi, released a statement regarding the death of Chambers.
“The University of Mississippi is shocked and heartbroken to learn about the tragic death of Jim Chambers,” Vitter said. “Jim was a respected leader, dedicated teacher and mentor and accomplished scientist who had tremendous impact in our community. We offer our condolences to Jim’s family, and our thoughts and prayers are with them. The entire Ole Miss family is here to support Jim’s family during this difficult time.”
Family, friends and coworkers gathered at the Ford Center Tuesday to honor the life of James Chambers, a professor who died in a house fire on March 13. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
During his 20-plus years at the University, Chambers worked as a researcher, professor and administrator. He was an accomplished researcher, assisting the U.S. Department of Agriculture with research on acoustics for many applications.
Among those research projects was the use of acoustics to estimate the catfish population in a pond and predict grain size of suspended sediment.
Alex Cheng, dean of the UM School of Engineering, spoke highly of Chambers’ ability to teach and connect with students.
“Since he joined the School of Engineering, he has become one of the most beloved teachers,” Chang said. “He devoted his personal time to students. It is a great loss of a professor and colleague and from the students’ side it is an irrecoverable loss.”
Cody Berrey, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, remembers Chambers as a great professor and mentor with a passion for his students and teaching. Berrey said Chambers was the reason he is continuing his engineering degree into graduate school.
“He opened my eyes to everything that I could accomplish by continuing my education,” Berrey said. “Aside from being my professor, he was also my friend. I owe so much to Dr. Chambers. He will be forever remembered as my greatest teacher and mentor.”
A memorial service honoring Chambers was held at the Gertrude C. Ford Center on March 22. His friends and family wore Hawaiian shirts, which he was known to wear almost every day. A flag ceremony was performed by members of the Boy Scouts, an organization with which the Chambers family is heavily involved.
The memorial included personal reflections by several family members, coworkers and friends and finished with his fraternity brothers from Phi Kappa Tau singing the Georgia Tech fight song, “Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech.”
Two GoFundMe pages were set up online in memorial of Chambers. Money donated will go to his family. More than $37,000 has been raised as of Tuesday evening.
– Blake Alsup
Attendees sign in at the memorial for James Chambers. (Photo: Ariel Cobbert)
