Robert C. Clark (born 1944) is
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus and the Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law, Emeritus at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each c ...
. He previously served as dean and professor of law at Harvard Law School from 1989 to 2003. Clark is recognized as a leading authority in
corporate law and
corporate governance
Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions ...
.
Career
Clark earned his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in Theology from
Maryknoll College in 1966, his
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in philosophy from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1971, and his
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...
from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each c ...
in 1972. From 1972 to 1974, Clark was an associate with the Boston law firm of
Ropes and Gray
Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm with 13 offices located in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide, and its clients include corporations and financial institutions, government agen ...
, where he practiced commercial and corporate law. After this, Clark spent four years on the faculty of
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...
, where he became a tenured professor. In 1979, he returned to Harvard Law School as a professor of law.
Clark has also consulted for law firms and government agencies, and he testified before various Congressional committees and subcommittees on regulation of financial institutions.
Clark was the Dean and Royall Professor of Law at Harvard Law School from 1989 through July 2003. Under Clark's leadership as Dean, the Harvard Law School was said to have "more than quadrupled its endowment, strengthened its curriculum and research programs, expanded the faculty and significantly improved its student-faculty ratio."
In November 2002, Clark announced plans to conclude his service as Dean on June 30, 2003.
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination ...
was named as the next Dean of the Harvard Law School, beginning July 1, 2003.
On December 16, 2003,
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
announced that its board of directors elected Clark to join on the board in January 2004 and serve on its Nominating and Governance Committee and its Audit and Finance Committee.
Personal life
Clark was born in 1944 in
. He is married to Kathleen Tighe Clark and they have two children.
Publications
;Books
*''Corporate Law'' (1986)
;Articles
*"Major Trends Lead Us Back to Basics," 31 Journal of Corporate Law 591 (2006).
*"Moral Systems in the Regulation of Nonprofits: How Value Commitments Matter," Hauser Center Working Papers, October 2006, at No. 33.6.
*"Corporate Governance Changes in the Wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: A Morality Tale for Policymakers Too," 22 Georgia State Law Review 251 (2005).
*"Why So Many Lawyers? Are They Good or Bad?" 61 Fordham Law Review 275 (1993).
*"Contracts, Elites and Traditions in the Making of Corporate Law," 89 Columbia Law Review 7 (1989).
*Corporate Law (Little, Brown 1986).
*"The Four Stages of Capitalism," 94 Harvard Law Review 561 (1981).
*"Does the Nonprofit Form Fit the Health Care Industry?" 93 Harvard Law Review 1416 (1980).
See also
*
US corporate law
United States corporate law regulates the governance, finance and power of corporations in US law. Every state and territory has its own basic corporate code, while federal law creates minimum standards for trade in company shares and governa ...
References
External links
Clark's faculty profile page at Harvard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Robert C.
1944 births
Living people
Deans of Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School alumni
Harvard Law School faculty
Columbia University alumni
Warner Bros. Discovery people
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American lawyers