John Mason Clarke: Geologist, Palentologist, and Chalkboard Champion

Many chalkboard champions have distinguished themselves in fields other than education. Such is the case with John Mason Clarke, a secondary school teacher who also distinguished himself as a geologist and paleontologist.

John Mason Clarke was born on April 15, 1857, in Canandaigua, New York, the fifth of six children in the family of Noah Turner Clarke and Laura Mason Merrill. As a young boy, he attended Canandaigua Academy where his father was a teacher and principal. After his graduation in 1873, John enrolled in Amherst College where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1877. Following his college graduation, he returned to Canandaigua Academy to serve as an instructor. In 1879–1880, John worked as an assistant to Benjamin K. Emerson at Amherst, then he taught at the Utica Free Academy during the 1880–1881 school year. This was followed by work as an instructor at Smith College from 1881–1882, where he had been offered the position of professor. During his second year at Smith, John published his first three scientific papers, all treating the subject of arthropods.

In 1883, John traveled to Gottingen University for a brief period, and when he returned to the United States he resumed his teaching career at Massachusetts Agricultural College. Meanwhile, he continued his study of the Upper Devonian,  which he hoped to use for his dissertation. In January, 1886 he became an assistant to James Hall at the New York State Museum of Natural History in Albany, New York. He maintained an association with the museum for the remainder of his career.

In 1894 John was named a professor of geology and mineralogy at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Following the death of James Hall in 1898, this talented educator was named New York state paleontologist and was put in charge of a geological survey of New York. In 1904 he became the state geologist and paleontologist, the director of the state museum, and director of the science division of the education department. He was named the first president of the Paleontological Society in 1908, served as vice president of the Geological Society of America in 1909, and was elected president of that organization in 1916.

John M. Clarke passed away on May 29, 1925, in Albany at the age of 68. During his lengthy career he published 452 titles, of which approximately 300 treatedsubjects relted to geology or paleontology. Three genera and 42 species were named after him. He was awarded six honorary degrees and received offers from four universities to chair their departments of geology.