About Clark

Clark University is a liberal arts and research institution founded in 1887 as one of the first all-graduate schools in the United States. Until the creation of the undergraduate Clark College in 1902, the University’s programs granted only doctoral degrees.

Clark has played a prominent role in the development of several academic disciplines, including psychology, geography and interdisciplinary environmental studies. Clark’s first president was G. Stanley Hall, who founded the American Psychological Association at Clark, and the University was the site of Sigmund Freud’s famous “Clark Lectures” in 1909, introducing psychoanalysis to this country during his only visit to the United States. Clark’s Graduate School of Geography is one of the leading Ph.D. granting programs in the country, and the George Perkins Marsh Institute was the first research center created to study the human dimensions of global environmental change.

Researchers who have held Clark appointments include A.A. Michelson, the first U.S. Nobel Prize winner in the sciences; and Robert Goddard, the Father of the Space Age, who invented modern rocket technology. Other Clark researchers created the formula for the wind-chill factor, defined chemical double bonding, developed research leading to the birth control pill and made the first breakthrough in understanding how brain tissue regenerates itself.

In 1998, Clark University became the first university in the country to offer a Ph.D. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. And when the Ford Foundation wanted to promote academic freedom and religious, cultural and political pluralism on college and university campuses in the United States, it funded Clark, among 43 institutions nationwide, to launch the Difficult Dialogues program. Clark’s work in urban education, including our path-breaking partnership with the Worcester public secondary school, the University Park Campus School, has received national and international acclaim.

Today, Clark continues this legacy of innovation with the Becker School of Design & Technology, which is home to one of the world’s top game-design programs. The University’s Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design (slated to open in Fall 2023) will feature state-of-the-art facilities for interactive media, computer science, and visual and performing arts programs. Undergirding the Clark undergraduate academic experience is Liberal Education and Effective Practice (LEEP), which challenges our students to connect what they learn in the classroom with practical applications in the wider world. Through LEEP, Clark students confront complex problems, collaborate with faculty, learn directly from industry experts and explore topics of global consequence.

Learn more about the history of Clark University.

Campus Locations:

Main Campus

950 Main Street
Worcester, Massachusetts 01610-1477
United States of America

Branch Campus*

Cracaw University of Economics
Rakowicka 27
Cracaw, Poland  311-510

*Not available for students seeking Veteran’s Affairs benefits

Extension Sites

Weller Center
80 William St.
Worcetser, MA  01609

Barrett Center
61 Sever St.
Worcester, MA  01609