ROANOKE, VA – Growing up in Fishersville, Virginia, Rick Clark, now a Botetourt County resident, was always tinkering with things. He spent a good deal of his time taking apart bikes, appliances, or anything else he could get his hands on and then trying to put them back together -- sometimes with a few parts left over. By the time he graduated Wilson Memorial High School, Clark was still interested in tinkering with things and pursued that interest at Virginia Tech, studying material science and engineering. “It always interested me how things worked, what made them work, and what components were needed to make things function,” says Clark. “That’s why material science clicked with me. It gave me the chance to investigate the relationship between the structure of materials and their properties.” Clark received his bachelor’s degree in 1991, but stayed at Tech to pursue a master’s degree and eventually a Ph.D. in 1996. During his continued study, he began to teach in the Materials Science department, which gave him an interest in teaching professionally. “It was really exciting teaching kids something I was interested in and seeing that they were interested in it as well,” Clark says. “The neat thing about engineering classes is that a majority of them are hands-on labs, which actually lets students demonstrate what they are learning in a classroom. This showed me that I was actually teaching students something.” Once Clark received his doctorate from Virginia Tech, he worked for a year in Blacksburg at Luna Innovations, conducting research in fiber optics. He had recently married and the newlywed couple decided to move to California in 2000 so Clark could head the engineering program at the College of the Canyons in Los Angeles. “The program was brand new,” says Clark, “and hired me to help develop the program, as well as head the recruitment effort.” Clark spent five years in California developing the engineering program at College of the Canyons. During those years he also attended The Master’s Seminary and had three children with his wife, Julie. He also started a robotics and an engineering academy for high school students in the Los Angeles area. “I was trying to make sure
kids knew it was okay to be a nerd; that, in fact, it was cool to be a nerd,” Clark says of his efforts. In 2005, Clark and his family returned to Virginia to settle in the Roanoke area. Now, Clark works as an Associate Professor, and Assistant Dean of Engineering at Virginia Western Community College. “I like to have fun here,” Clark says. Clark has certainly found ways to keep it fun at Virginia Western; he has just returned with a team of his students from Rochester, NY, where they raced in the SAE mini-baja international competition, driving an off-road vehicle they had built from scratch. Clark is also famous for giving all of his students who graduate a pocket protector with their names on it. “We are grateful to have Rick as a Virginia Western faculty member,” says Jim Poythress, Dean of Business Science, Engineering, and Technology at Virginia Western. “Not only does he bring a broad assortment of experience and great ideas, but he brings enthusiasm and energy into the classroom that students can easily connect with”. Clark also spends his time as a lay college pastor at Calvary Memorial Church on Colonial Avenue. He is expecting his fourth child whom he says they will name Cali if it is a girl since she will be the only child not born in California.