Helen E. Clark papers

Helen E. Clark was born in 1912 in Edam, Saskatchewan. After graduating high school, she taught in one room schools until she was able to afford enrollment in university. She received her Bachelor of Household Science degree (1939) from the University of Saskatchewan. After graduation, she taught home economics in British Columbia (1939-1942). Eventually, she decided to pursue graduate study and received a research assistantship at Iowa State University. Her M.S. thesis research (1945) was based on the protein quality of the egg for the growth of young rats. Her Ph.D. research (1950) was directed to protein and amino acid requirements of adult rats.

Dr. Clark was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Kansas State University (1950-1954) before joining the faculty at Purdue University where she stayed until her retirement (1954-1977). At Purdue, she developed a project related to protein and amino acid requirements of humans. The study examined whether these were provided by foods alone, amino acid mixtures, or combinations of foods and amino acids.

Dr. Clark was the recipient of numerous awards including the Borden Award (1968), the Centennial Award of the College of Home Economics (ISU, 1971), the first woman to be recognized as a Distinguished Professor at Purdue (1974), and honorary Doctor of Science (Purdue, 1994). In 1995, Dr. Clark was awarded a Distinguished Achievement Citation from the Iowa State University Alumni Association. She was named Professor Emerita of the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University and has been credited with building the teaching and research program in nutrition there. Helen Clark died on January 3, 2001.

Source: Archives of Women in Science and Engineering, Iowa State University.