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David Angel

Citation

David P. Angel

Mr. President, I have the honor of presenting David P. Angel — geographer extraordinaire, lifelong fan of the Chelsea football club, and ninth president of Clark University. I’ve had the good fortune to know David ever since he arrived at Clark in 1987 sporting dark hair, a full beard, and an infectious smile. Having taught with him, having worked alongside him, and having watched him lead Clark into the new millennium, I’m delighted to welcome him back to America’s smallest research university on this special day.

David, we are lucky that you chose to spend your entire academic career here at Clark. You rose through the ranks in the Graduate School of Geography to serve as director before being named the Joan Kraft Laskoff Professor of Economics, Technology, and Environment. Your cutting-edge environmental research on “the greening of industry” showed big business how to transform vicious circles into virtuous ones. First as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and then as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, you were an energetic academic innovator who helped reshape the University’s curriculum by connecting liberal education with effective practice.

During your ten years as our ninth president, you provided Clark with the vision and resources necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century. You led a successful capital campaign that raised more than $150 million by reengaging Clark alums with their alma mater and also by making new friends for the University. You were a master builder whose handiwork includes the Academic Commons at Goddard Library and the Shaich Family Center for Alumni and Student Engagement across Main Street. And even though you completed your 33-year run in Worcester in the midst of an incredibly disruptive global pandemic, you remained what you have always been — a bold, kind, and unflappable leader who left Clark a much better place than it was when you first set foot on campus during the University’s centennial year.

Mr. President, on behalf of the trustees, faculty, students, and staff at Clark University, it gives me great pleasure to request that the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, be conferred upon David P. Angel.