Charley Kalm: In Loving Memory
Departmental News
Posted: May 08, 2026 - 03:08pm
The Department is deeply saddened to report the loss of a great friend. Our former student and faculty member, Charley Kalm, passed away on April 26, 2026, at the age of 44. His online obituary is here.
Charley was actively involved in the Department for almost two decades -- from the early 2000s, when he started his undergraduate career at UNM, until Spring 2019, when he earned his M.A. in Philosophy. He never left the Department completely behind, though. In more recent years, he was still attending colloquium talks and other departmental events.
Wherever Charley was, his passion for philosophy was unmistakable. As a student, Charley was famous for creative, courageous, and often humorous risk-taking in written work and other contributions. (No one in attendance will ever forget his legendary presentation to UNM's Graduate Philosophy Conference while still an undergraduate, “Standing Before You in My Superman Underoos.” To us, Charley was indeed a man of steel.)
Charley's energy and enthusiasm were contagious and unmatchable, as described in this now poignant passage from a recommendation letter:
“Kalm would often catch me on my way to or from class and walk with me, discussing philosophical arguments and ideas. I sometimes wonder how he is able to keep his engine running constantly, and I surmise that it is because he sees his efforts as leading somewhere deeply important—important to himself but in the service of others. My out-of-class encounters with Kalm have been a real treat for me, and I’ll miss them when he moves on.”
Charley was a singular and spirited contributor to seminars and department colloquia, where he would often pose illuminating questions and comments, always with a twinkle in his eye. His MA thesis was a brilliant and beautiful meditation on human vulnerability that concluded with a simple prescription: “Be supportive.” And Charley was supportive. He engaged his peers in the Philosophy Department with enduring generosity, care, and concern.
Charley's commitment to excellence was also unmistakable. In 2006, he graduated from UNM summa cum laude with a B.A. in both Philosophy and Foreign Languages and Literatures and with departmental honors in both. In 2010, Charley earned his J.D. from the UNM Law School and was admitted to the New Mexico bar that same year, just a few months after graduation.
In 2013, Charley began teaching for Philosophy as a part-time adjunct Lecturer, and after less than a year of teaching, and while practicing law on the side, he won a university-wide teaching award: the UNM 2013-2014 Outstanding Affiliated Teacher of the Year Award.
When Charley was notified that he'd been selected for the teaching award, he was told that there wouldn't be time at the award ceremony for him to give a speech. So, Charley asked that he be able to write his introduction. This is what he wrote, and this is what was read aloud at the ceremony.
"Charles Kalm is native to New Mexico, The University of New Mexico is his alma mater. He practices law at Kalm Law Firm and lecturers for the Department of Philosophy (which is very well-represented here today). Charles teaches Critical Thinking and the Philosophy of Law and Morals, serving about 100 students each semester.
He has found insight and inspiration in the excellent teachers throughout his life — first and foremost: his loving family, and especially sensei Sam Shaw, Robert Evers, Coach Blaine Clarke, UNM Professors: Dean Ursula Shepard, Peter Pabisch, Enrique Dela Madrid, Dean Mark Peceny, Mary Domksi, Iain Thomson, Kelly Becker, Brent Kalar, Steven K. Homer, Christian Fritz, Fred Hart, Jim Ellis, and Eileen Gauna, among others. Many have been recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for their scholarship and teaching excellence, all of them constantly demonstrate, demand, and develop excellence in an out of the classroom. They deserve mention as the most significant positive impact on his pedagogy and their legacy of excellence that has helped shape Charles as a teacher. He strives to follow their lead and their commitment to student learning and excellence.
Charles is humbled by his recognition as UNM’s 2013-2014 Lecturer of the Year. He shares his sincere thanks with his family, his teachers, all the excellent educators committed to our common mission, the University of New Mexico, the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Office in Support of Effective Teaching, and especially to his students for all that they too teach him."
The gratitude Charley expresses -- for his loving family, first and foremost, for his teachers and students, and for all the opportunities that he had to learn from others -- was always on his sleeve. He exuded gratitude in everything he did, and we could not be more grateful for everything Charley did to make our department better. He was one of our finest champions, a living paragon of that highest philosophical virtue Aristotle called “greatness of soul,” and he will be sorely missed.
