William Bullock Clark

Who was William Bullock Clark?

William Bullock Clark, Ph. D., LL.D, was an American geologist.

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 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 and the Maryland Geological Survey, as well as serving 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 has been named after him. The building Clark Hall, however, is not named after him.

Clark died in 1917 from a stroke at the age of 57.