James M. Clark, oral history transcript, 10/10/2018

Interviewee: Dr. James M. Clark Interviewers: Cristina Brea, Alexander Katavolos, Zackary Modine October 10, 2018 Memorial Library, SUNY Cortland Length: 1:14:12 The Interviewee. Dr. James M. Clark was the eighth president of the State University of New York College at Cortland from 1979-1995 and is currently active in various charitable organizations within the community. He continues to be an influential part of the community through his participation and efforts just as when he was president. He spent part of his adolescence in Michigan, later moving to Maine and eventually Cortland, where he currently resides. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Clark was a teaching fellow in French and political science. Earlier, he had served as a teaching assistant in English at Lycée St. Louis in Paris. At the University of Maine, Dr. Clark joined the political science faculty. While on leave at one point, he served as a Fulbright Professor at the Institute Études Politiques, University of Toulouse, France, and eventually became Vice President for Academic Affairs. While he was president at Cortland, Dr. Clark fostered the growth of International Studies Programs in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The Interviewer(s). Cristina Brea, Alex Katavolos, and Zackary Modine are undergraduate students majoring in history at the State University of New York College at Cortland. This interview is part of Cortland’s 150th year-long history with a focus on Cortland alumni and former faculty being conducted as a project for History 329: “Oral History and Historical Memory” for fall 2018. Description of the Interview. The interview took place in a side room on the third floor of Memorial Library on the campus of SUNY Cortland. The library is on upper campus on the top of the hill. For the interview, we sat at a table with two of us on each side of the table (Alex and Zach, Cristina and Dr. Clark). There were minimal interruptions, and we spoke for an hour and a half