Donald Clarke, Fordham alumnus and professor of chemistry since 1962 and recipient of NIH and NSF research grants

“I was the eldest of four children and the first in my immediate family to attend high school. There was no university in Jamaica at that time and my parents couldn’t afford to send me abroad for higher education. Early in 1948 I received an offer of a scholarship to Fordham from Father Robert I. Gannon, president of the University. I started at Fordham in September 1948 as a junior in the college and graduated in June 1950 with a BS in chemistry. I stayed on through an assistantship in the chemistry department and completed my master’s in June 1951 and Ph.D. in the summer of 1955.

“In 1962, I was appointed associate professor of chemistry. Promotion to full professor was achieved in 1970, and I have continued in that position to the present day.

“I never dreamed of the possibility of such accomplishments as I was growing up.”