Plymouth State University

Perhaps no name is as synonymous with Plymouth State Athletics as John P. Clark. Clark arrived on the campus as a student in 1967, and his impact on both the University and the Athletics Department can be found everywhere.
 
His impact was first felt as student body president, when Clark worked with the student senate to start club football and on October 3, 1970, Plymouth State hosted its first varsity football game. After graduating, Clark held positions within Plymouth State's residential life and admissions offices before serving as director of the college union building.
 
In 1980 he was named the school's seventh Director of Athletics, coinciding with the department's rise to prominence on the national stage as one of the top Division III athletic schools in the country. During his first stint as AD, Clark improved facilities and increased opportunities for women's sports, before stepping down to serve as Executive Assistant to the President in 1985.
 
In his new role, Clark continued to advocate for athletics, helping to plan the athletic complex with new facilities for the football, soccer, lacrosse, and baseball teams, along with practice fields, scoreboards and press boxes. In the spring of 1985, Clark invited eight New England schools to campus to explore the concept of a basketball conference, culminating in the creation of the Little East Conference for men's and women's basketball less than a year later. Today, the LEC sponsors championships for 21 sports with a core membership of nine institutions.
 
Clark returned as Athletic Director from 2001-15, then directed the newly created ALLWell North and Bank of New Hampshire Field House from 2015-2017 before his retirement. Under his guidance, Plymouth State added several varsity sports, including women's swimming and diving, women's ice hockey, women's cross country and men's and women's track & field programs, while reinstating a dormant men's cross country program. He also oversaw the men's and women's ski programs' transition from national powers in the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) to the more competitive Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) of NCAA skiing.
 
Clark was honored with several Plymouth State awards during his 45 year career, including the James J. Hogan Award (1987), Distinguished Alumni Award (1995), Theo Kalikow Award (2009), Pat Storer Award (2010), SAGE Center Campus Ally Award (2014), Distinguished PAT Award (2015) and Silas H. Pearle Award (2017), among others. He played significant roles in the planning and development of the Savage Welcome Center and Hanaway Rink, opened in 2010, and the ALLWell North facility, opened in 2015, and was also instrumental in developing areas around the entire campus, including upgrades to Boyd Science Center, Lamson Library, the Hartman Union Building and Silver Center for the Arts.
 
The Goffstown, N.H. native was selected as part of the LEC Hall of Fame's initial class in 2012 and was honored as an LEC Influencer during the league's 30th anniversary celebration in 2016. In 2019, the PSU Athletic Department introduced the John P. Clark Award, presented to the top true freshman based on academic distinction and athletic excellence.