| HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Karl Adolph Clark was born October 20, 1888 in Georgetown, Ontario to Malcolm Sinclair and Adelaide Louise (nee McLaughlin) Clark. Karl Clark attended Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Ontario from 1900 until 1904. In 1910 he graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and then graduated with a Master of Arts degree in chemistry in 1912. Three years later he received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Illinois. Clark married Dora Anne Wolverton on September 3, 1919. Together they had four children, Frances, Mary, Malcolm and Nancy. From 1916 until 1920 Clark worked with the Geological Survey of Canada and the Mines Branch in Ottawa, Ontario. He later joined the Research Council of Alberta in 1920, working on the Athabasca oil sands. When the Alberta Research Council was suspended around 1932, Clark became Professor of Metallurgy at the University of Alberta. From 1935 until 1937 he was granted a leave of absence to work on oil reservoir engineering problems for Trinidad Leaseholds Limited, a British-owned oil firm in Trinidad. After his leave of absence he returned to the University to teach. In 1945 he was appointed head of the Department of Mining and Metallurgy at the University of Alberta, a post he held until his retirement in 1954. When the Alberta Research Council was revived Clark resumed his work supervising the oil sands program while teaching at the University and after his retirement. Clark also worked as a consultant for Socony-Vacuum Oil Company from 1952 until 1954. In 1955 Clark was awarded the Gold Medal of the Professional Institute of Public Service of Canada for meritorious achievement. He also served as Acting Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Conservation Board for two short periods. Clark moved to Saanichton, British Columbia in 1964. He died in Victoria in 1966. |