A leader in language
FAYETTEVILLE — In 1969, Dr. Margaret Clark became one of the first black faculty members at the University of Arkansas. She began a long professional career as an educator with the U of A as an instructor of French, adding foreign languages and then teacher education in 1972. She ended her outstanding career by earning emerita status from the department of curriculum and instruction in 1998. She has continued teaching at least one class per semester since her retirement and is presently teaching Methodology III for Foreign Language. Dr. Clark notes that, her education at the University of Arkansas enabled her to pursue a professional role as a professor of French and teacher education. Clark credits the camaraderie of her professors and classmates as the support system that led to the development of lifelong friendships.
Dr. Clark is the first African American president of the Fayetteville Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Fayetteville Branch of the American Association of University Women, the Arkansas Division of the American Association of University Women, and the Arkansas Chapter of the Arkansas-East Bolivia Partners of the Americas. She has been recognized as Outstanding Faculty Member with the 1989 National Panhellenic Award and was selected as recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award. She was honored for community service with the 2004 Torchbearer Award from the graduate chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and as one of the Outstanding Women of the Year in 2003 by the Washington County Women’s Coalition (composed of nine women’s organizations). She spearheaded the chartering of the campus undergraduate chapter and the Northwest Arkansas alumnae chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
She has been, and continues to be, involved in numerous civic organizations, in academics, and in the community. She serves as chair of the Arkansas A+ Schools Network Advisory Council and is a volunteer docent at the Walton Arts Center. She is a board member of the Washington County Historical Society, the Arkansas Alumni Association, Arkansas-East Bolivia Partners of the Americas, and has previously served on the board of the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas.
