Robert D. Clark
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Robert Donald Clark (March 10, 1910 – June 28, 2005) was an American educator and university administrator.


Early life

Robert Donald Clark was born in
Frontier County, Nebraska Frontier County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 2,519. Its county seat is Stockville. In the Nebraska license plate system, Frontier County is represented by the prefix 60 (i ...
, on March 10, 1910. The family moved frequently.


Education

Clark graduated from high school in Colorado, then received a B.A. in English (with a minor in History) from Pasadena College (now known as
Point Loma Nazarene University Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a Private college, private Christianity, Christian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with its main campus in Point Loma, San Diego, Point Loma in San Diego, California, Unit ...
) in 1931 and a M.A. in speech from 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 1935. While at USC Clark also taught freshman composition at various colleges. Clark received his Ph.D. in 1946, also from USC with a dissertation titled "The Platform and Pulpit Career and Rhetorical Theory of Bishop Matthew Simpson."


University of Oregon

While teaching composition classes at the University of Oregon, Clark was appointed to Assistant Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) in 1947, which he held until being chosen as Dean of CLA in 1955. He was president of the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
from 1969 to 1975. The Robert D. Clark Honors College on campus is named after him. Clark was president during many war protests on the campus, including when students burned down the
ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
building, and when the
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
marched onto campus and launched tear gas at protesting crowds. Throughout this period, Clark was known for defending the rights of students to protest and speak out against the war. Following the
Kent State Shootings The Kent State shootings (also known as the Kent State massacre or May 4 massacre"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years before (Ma ...
, protests on campus died down significantly.


San Jose State College

From 1964 until 1969, Clark served as president of
San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...
, where he was known for his support of the civil rights struggles of African-American athletes, including Olympians
John Carlos John Wesley Carlos (born June 5, 1945) is an American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on th ...
and
Tommie Smith Tommie C. Smith (born June 6, 1944) is an American former track and field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83 sec ...
. He was the first president screened and nominated by a representative faculty group. "Clark envisioned his task as one of continuously improving the quality of the institution and making it more responsive to the intellectual needs and aspirations of the student body" (Gilbert and Burdick, 171). Despite the unrest and violence of the 1960s, Clark contributed much to the curriculum and set an example for mutual cooperation and community relations. Clark established one of the first Ombudsmen at any US College or University in 1968. Clark resigned in 1969 after a strike by faculty members whom Clark previously considered allies. A five-story library that opened in early 1982 on the San José State University campus was named after former College President Clark. Since 2005, the library has been converted into Robert D. Clark Hall, a classroom building.


Media

Clark was the subject of a short documentary in 2005 titled "Oregon's War at Home and the Man who Brought the Peace." Produced through the Oregon Documentary Project and created by
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
students, it told the story of Clark's time as president of UO, and how he handled students protesting the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. "Oregon's War at Home and the Man who Brought the Peace" won the Student Award at the 2006
Northwest Emmy Awards The Northwest Emmy Awards are a division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Seattle, Washington, division was founded in 1963. In addition to granting the Northwest Emmy Awards, this division awards scholarships, honors ...
and aired on
Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary public broadcasting, public media organization for the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington (state), Washington. It provides news, information, and programming via television stati ...
.


Other appointments

In 1936 Clark was the editor for the
Western States Communication Association Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
.WSCA
/ref> Clark died June 28, 2005, in
Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
.


References


External links


A Campus in Crisis: The Vietnam Protests at San Jose State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Robert D. 1910 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American academics Presidents of San Jose State University Presidents of the University of Oregon Point Loma Nazarene University alumni University of Southern California alumni People from Frontier County, Nebraska