Last updated 10/11/2021
Professor Emeritus of Religion, Henry B. Clark II. (Deceased July 23, 2009).
Since his retirement in 1994, Henry Clark was been able to explore his interest in writing fiction and actually wrote several novels, one of which has been published, Trophy Boy. Not only did he spend hours upon hours writing, he also became something of a front-line political activist, mainly in a small organization called The Alliance for Democracy, founded by Ronnie Dugger in 1996. He also did a lot of work with the California Council of Churches, mainly as a “braintruster” writing for their website as well as making speeches and appearances at legislative hearings when called upon to do so.
Henry Clark, Ph.D., came to USC as Professor of Social Ethics and Associate Director of the Center for the Humanities in September of 1975. In his capacity as Coordinator for Ethics and the Professions at the Center for the Humanities, he organized and ran a number of significant conferences and research programs, including: *The Ethics of Experience and Behavior Control (1976), Conference on Business Ethics (1976), *Energy Policy and Life Styles in California (1978-79), Social Ethics and Autonomous Technology (1977-78), Professional Ethics in Law, Medicine, Business, Engineering and Pharmacy (1980-1981), and *Ethics and Science (1981). In addition to this, he was named “Distinguished California Humanist” by the California Council on the Humanities and Public Policy (1979).
*Items marked with an asterisk resulted in published proceedings or articles in various professional journals.
Lessons Learned
“I have no advice for others except to warn them that the ostensibly joking comment, re: ‘you’re busier than ever after you retire,’ has a considerable amount of truth to convey! But all that means is that you do have a lot of time to decide exactly what your priorities are when you no longer have a mandatory work schedule set by an employer.” – Henry Clark, 2007.
In Memoriam: USC News – Henry B. Clark, ’78