Hoover Winfield Clark was born 10 December 1929 in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He graduated from Brigham Young High School in 1948. After serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Paris, France, Clark worked for U.S. Army Intelligence. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in French from Brigham Young University. He received his Ph.D. at Syracuse University in 1964. He died 30 September 2006.
From the guide to the Hoover W. Clark doctoral dissertation and letters, 1964-1966, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)