Clarke Endowment to Fund Scholarships

Harry and Juanita Clarke have left a $1.1 million endowment to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The endowment will be used to fund scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students in the department. The fund will also be used to support students in the Geological Engineering Program and to attract graduate students interested in working with MS&E faculty in the Geological Engineering Program.

Harry "Ted" Clarke graduated in 1934 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in metallurgical engineering. At that time, the department was called the Department of Mining and Metallurgy. Clarke, who spent his entire career in the steel industry, was very proud of his degree from the University of Wisconsin and felt that it gave him the start he needed, even in the Depression years, to launch a successful career in the steel industry.

After many years with Illinois Steel Company, Clarke joined Bliss and Laughlin Steel where he became an officer and retired as vice president. Throughout his career, Clarke and his wife traveled extensively, living in Japan, India and Mexico while Clarke helped establish steel plants in those countries.

Clarke died at the age of 78 in 1987 in Tucson, Arizona, and with the death of his wife, Juanita, in December 1994, came the news of their wishes to establish a scholarship fund to help launch careers for future generations.