William Bullock Clark

He was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, and educated at Amherst College and in Munich. In 1888 he became connected with the United States Geological Survey.

William Bullock Clark was a professor of geology at Johns Hopkins University (1887–1917) who led the department through a period of great growth, during which it awarded forty-six PhDs, twice as many as any other university. One of these was the first PhD in meteorology ever earned in the United States awarded to Oliver Lanard Fassig. In addition to this, Clark founded and directed both the Maryland State Weather Service (founded in 1891) and the Maryland Geological Survey (1896). The State Weather Service was a cooperative venture between Hopkins, the Maryland Agricultural College [now University of Maryland], and the United States Weather Bureau, while the Geological Survey was also a joint effort between the State of Maryland, Hopkins, and the Maryland Agricultural College. In both instances, Johns Hopkins provided facilities and funding for their ongoing support.[2] Clark also served as the State's representative when the Mason-Dixon line was resurveyed in 1900.

For his work at the Johns Hopkins University, one of the dormitories in the Alumni Memorial Residences ("AMRs") has been named after him. The building Clark Hall (also at The Johns Hopkins University), however, is not named after him (Clark Hall is named after donor A. James Clark).

Clark died in 1917 from a stroke at his summer home in North Haven, Maine.[3]

• The Johns Hopkins University

• Works by or about William Bullock Clark at Internet Archive
• Clark at "The Johns Hopkins Housing Record" site
• National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir