Clark, Robert W. (Robert William), 1927-

A life long Idaho resident, Robert W. Clark was born September 23, 1931, in Wallace, Idaho, and graduated from Wallace High School in 1949. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1952-1954, he received his B.S. degree from the University of Idaho 1956, followed by a M.S. in Business in 1958.

Clark began teaching in the Accounting Department at the University of Idaho in 1956, and was the first person promoted to full professor before the age of 40. He served as chairman of the Accounting Department from 1969-1972. In 1970 he became the director of the Public Utilities Executives Course, and under his direction the course grew from its regional focus to an international course designed for emerging utility executives.

He was the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the university's Outstanding Faculty Award, the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council Outstanding Teacher Award, Outstanding Educator of America Award, Gamma Sigma Delta Annual Award for Excellence, and Moscow Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award.

He served on numerous boards and committees for the state. In 1972 Governor Cecil Andrus appointed him to the Idaho Health Facilities Authority Board on which he was still active at the time of his death in 1991. He also served on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Committee on Health Care from 1976-1978.

He was a member of both the American and Idaho Society of Certified Public Accountants, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, the Wallace Elks Lodge, and the Vandal Boosters.

He died at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane from complications of pneumonia, on Sunday, January 13, 1991. He was survived by his wife, Dorothy (Anno) Clark, and a son and daughter.

From the guide to the Papers, 1954-1989, (University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives)