Robert L. Clarke
1923 - 2007
R
obert L. Clarke was one of BCC’s most beloved chemistry professors.
He believed in the power of education to uplift and open doors. He
was deeply committed to the main principle upon which community colleges
were founded: that there ought to be a place in higher education for every
high school graduate who seeks it. He made it his mission to provide his
students with the highest level of teaching and expected the highest level of
achievement from them in return. He proudly ushered them into careers in
medicine, engineering and other dynamic industries.
In the late 1960s he took a leave from BCC to join a program—
co-sponsored by Cornell University and the State Department—which
responded to the great need for trained chemists in Liberia. He taught
chemistry at the University of Liberia, trained Peace Corps volunteers to
teach science, and helped develop a new secondary school science curriculum
for Liberia’s Education Department.
When he returned to BCC, he was appointed BCC’s first ombudsman,
and in 1974, he was named BCC’s best teacher. He will be remembered by
his students as the patient mentor who enabled them to conquer (or at least
survive) challenging math and science courses. He will be remembered by his
family for his constant encouragement, his sense of humor and love of fun,
and countless gestures of affection and love.
In the words of the poet Horace: “When shall we look upon his like
again?’’
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