Hubert Lyman Clark (January 9, 1870 – July 31, 1947) was an American

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

. He received the Clarke Medal from the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

in 1947. A son of UMass Amherst president William Smith Clark, he spent more than 40 years as a professor and curator at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Life and career

Clark was born on January 9, 1870, in Amherst, Massachusetts, to William Smith Clark, president of

Massachusetts Agricultural College The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

, and Harriet Kapuolani (née Richards). He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

(A.B., 1892) and

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

(Ph.D., 1897), where he studied with William Keith Brooks and became interested in marine biology. After graduation, he taught biology for two years at Amherst College and subsequently served as professor of biology at Olivet College in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

from 1899 to 1905. In 1905, Clark joined the Museum of Comparative Zoology at

as an assistant in invertebrate zoology. In 1910 Clark became curator of

echinoderms An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as larv ...

and in 1927 curator of marine invertebrates and associate professor of zoology, retiring from the classroom in 1935 and retiring as curator by August 1946. Through collecting trips to Caribbean and Australia, he grew the museum's collections of sea stars, brittle stars, sea lilies, and sea cucumbers. He was acting professor at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in 1929, acting associate professor at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1936, and research associate at the Allan Hancock Foundation at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1946–47. Clark cultivated a wide range of research interests, but after 1910 his chief research interest lay with Australian fauna. In 1947, he received the Clarke Medal from the

"in recognition of his distinguished contributions to natural science, particularly in regard to the elucidation of Echinodermata of Australia." Olivet College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1927. In 1899, Clark married Frances Lee (née Snell), who accompanied him on many of his field trips and sketched specimens to illustrate his scientific writings. He died at Mount Auburn Hospital in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, on July 31, 1947, at the age of 77.

Work

Clark conducted field research in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

, the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

, the Pacific coasts of South and Central America, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he collected in 1913, 1929, and 1932. He published many papers dealing with echinoderms (100+ articles) birds (20 articles), snakes, butterflies, and flowers. His publications include: *''The Birds of Amherst and Vicinity'' (1887) *''The Echinoderms of Porto Rico'' (1901) *''A New Ophiuran from the West Indies'' (1910) *''North Pacific Ophiurans in the Collection of the United States National Museum'' (1911) *''The Echinoderm Fauna of Australia, Its Composition and Its Origin'' (1946) (recording all known species including fossils) He also contributed to '' The New International Encyclopaedia'' and the '' Dictionary of American Biography''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Hubert Lyman 1870 births 1947 deaths American curators American male non-fiction writers American nature writers American zoologists Amherst College Amherst College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Harvard University staff Harvard University faculty Olivet College faculty People from Amherst, Massachusetts Scientists from Massachusetts Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts 20th-century American zoologists 19th-century American zoologists