Samuel Delbert Clark | |
---|---|
Born |
Lloydminster, Alberta |
24 February 1910
Died | 18 September 2003 | (aged 93)
Occupation | sociologist |
Awards | Order of Canada |
Samuel Delbert "Del" Clark, OC (24 February 1910 – September 18, 2003) was a Canadian sociologist.
Born in Lloydminster, Alberta, Clark received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history in 1930 and a Master of Arts degree in 1931 from the University of Saskatchewan. From 1932 to 1933, he studied at the London School of Economics. In 1935, he received a Master of Arts degree from McGill University and a Ph.D. in 1938 from the University of Toronto. In 1943, he was awarded a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
In 1938, he started teaching at the University of Toronto in the Department of Political Economy. Through his efforts, sociology gained respect from Canadian scholars who were initially skeptical of the discipline. On July 1, 1963, he led the founding of the Sociology department and served as its first chair until 1969. He retired in 1976, but taught for years as a Visiting Professor at a number of places, including Dalhousie University, Lakehead University, and the University of Edinburgh.
As a sociologist, Clark became known for studies interpreting Canadian social development as a process of disorganization and re-organization on a series of economic frontiers. His scholarship won him acceptance at a time when Canadian academics were still skeptical of the new discipline of sociology. Under Clark’s direction, a series on the Social Credit movement produced 10 monographs by Canadian scholars. In the 1960s, Clark’s interest shifted to contemporary consequences of economic changes, especially suburban living and urban poverty.