John Walter Clark (born 1935), is

Wayman Crow Wayman Crow (March 7, 1808 – May 10, 1885) was one of the founders of Washington University, a St. Louis businessman, and a politician. Early life Born in Hartford, Kentucky, on March 7, 1808, Crow was the youngest of eight children. His p ...

Professor of Physics emeritus at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, and a recipient of the Eugene Feenberg Medal in 1987 for his contributions to

many-body theory The many-body problem is a general name for a vast category of physical problems pertaining to the properties of microscopic systems made of many interacting particles. Terminology ''Microscopic'' here implies that quantum mechanics has to be ...

Biography

John Clark was born in 1935 in

Lockhart, Texas Lockhart is a city in and the county seat of Caldwell County, Texas, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 14,379. History The city of Lockhart is named after Byrd Lockhart, an assistant surveyor of Green DeWitt a ...

. He received his BS and MA degrees in physics from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in 1955 and 1957, respectively. He then earned his Ph.D. in Physics under the supervision of

Eugene Feenberg Eugene Feenberg (October 6, 1906 in Fort Smith, Arkansas – November 7, 1977) was an American physicist who made contributions to quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. Education In 1929, Feenberg graduated from the University of Texas at Austin ...

at Washington University in St. Louis in 1959. He was a

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Postdoctoral Fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

advised by

Eugene Wigner Eugene Paul Wigner (, ; November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of th ...

and a NATO postdoctoral fellow at

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and

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from 1959 to 1963. He named his son Eugene after his advisors. Author is his daughter. He became an assistant professor of physics in

Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis is home to the College of Arts and Sciences and corresponding graduate programs across its many departments. The current Dean of the Faculty is Feng Sheng Hu, the Lucille P. Markey Distingui ...

in 1963, was department chair from 2002 to 2007, and succeeded Edwin T. Jaynes as the Wayman Crow Professor of Physics.

Research and teaching

Clark is notable for his contributions to nuclear physics and many-body theory, Later in his career, he also turned his interests to neural nets. He taught "Physics of the Brain" for many years. He supervised over two dozen Ph.D. students and was notable for promoting women in the field.

Awards

* Fellow,

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* Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1965) * Eugene Feenberg Medal for Many-Body Physics (1987) * Wayman Crow Professorship in Physics (1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John Walter 1935 births Living people Washington University in St. Louis alumni Scientists from Missouri American nuclear physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Washington University in St. Louis physicists University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences alumni