Wallace P. Carson, Jr.

Wallace Preston Carson Jr. (born June 10, 1934) is an American attorney and politician from Oregon. He has spent time in both of Oregon's legislative branches and served on the Oregon Supreme Court for 24 years. Carson's fourteen-year tenure as chief justice was longer than that of any of his predecessors.

Early life Wallace P. Carson Jr. was born June 10, 1934; he was raised in Salem, where his grandfather had started a law firm in 1889. He graduated from Salem High School (now North Salem High School) in 1952. Wallace graduated from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California with a Bachelor of Arts in 1956 where he was a brother of Phi Delta Theta.

After graduation, he spent three years on active duty in the Air Force. Overall Carson Jr. was in the armed forces for 34 years, many with the Air Force Reserve and Oregon Air National Guard. While serving in the military he rose to the rank of brigadier general while serving as a Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) officer, ground control intercept officer, and jet pilot. This service took him to places such as Korea and Taiwan. He was chairman of the Oregon Appellate Judges Association from 1989 to 1991.

Carson's fellow justices chose him to serve as chief justice from 1991 to 2005. While on the court he served as chairperson of the Commission on Appellate Court Performance Standards for the National Center for State Courts. He has been married to his wife, the former Gloria Stalk, for over 50 years. She was a year behind him in high school, and they met at a local pool, where he was swimming and she had been playing tennis.