Interested in engineering from an early age, C. Donald Carpenter Jr. grew up in the countryside with grandparents who succeeded as farmers. While attending church in his youth, he encountered individuals who ran an engineering and land surveying business. Upon attending the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Carpenter was hired by the same business to complete land surveying work during the summers. Despite trying several different fields of engineering, he always returned to land surveying, finding that he enjoyed the subject immensely.
At the inception of his career in 1955, Mr. Carpenter worked for General Electric in Schenectady, New York, as a designer within the medium motors department. During his tenure there, he notably worked on the Nautilus and Atomic Submarine. From 1957 to 1962, he was a highway designer for J. Clarkeson Consultant Engineers in Albany, and for the following two years, he served as a computer programmer for Rist-Frost Associates in Glen Falls, New York. A former office manager of Coulter McCormack Surveyors in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the mid-1960s, Mr. Carpenter then served the Saratoga County Planning Board as deputy director for five years. Thereafter, he served in the same capacity for Saratoga County Real Property Tax for the following two years.
In 1973, Mr. Carpenter served as principal of his own eponymously-named land surveying business in Galway, New York. Maintaining the business until 1984, he then became president of Carpenter Associates, PC in Galway, maintaining the role until his eventual retirement. Over the course of his career, Mr. Carpenter was a licensed land surveyor for 56 years and certified as an engineering technician. Additionally, he was a noted consultant in ancient land title and municipal boundary matters, as well as an expert witness in land patent and boundary disputes.
Demonstrating versatility in his profession, Mr. Carpenter has authored several books regarding history and maps, and also holds a land patent for maps from original survey records. Active with the Greenfield Environmental Commission for four years, he also maintained membership with the Early American Industries Association.
In light of his success, Mr. Carpenter received an Award of Merit from the Federation for Historical Services in 1988. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, farming, listening to music, writing and collecting antique books.