Clark, Bob
Contents
Photograph[edit]
Dates[edit]
Robert H. (Bob) Clark 1922 (Winnipeg, Canada) - 2007
Biography[edit]
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada in 1922, Bob Clark graduated in 1943 in Civil Engineering and took the Master's degree in 1945 in Hydraulics and Water Power Engineering from McGill University. In 1948, he established the first formal Canadian university course in hydrology. He developed and presented graduate courses on water resources management at both the University of Waterloo and McGill, where he was Adjunct Professor in Civil Engineering from 1980 through 1987. He was the author of over 45 technical papers and contributed chapters to several texts on hydrology, hydraulics, water resources and tidal power development.
During his 27-year tenure with the Federal government, he served on 11 federal boards dealing with various river systems across Canada dealing with allocation and regulation of waters, development of hydroelectric power, flood control and irrigation. During this period, he served on 14 international boards and committees of the International Joint Commission (IJC) initially set up to explore and plan the allocation, development and regulation of transboundary rivers. In 1957, he was instrumental in establishing a Subcommittee on Hydrology at the National Research Council, which proved highly successful in promoting hydrology and hydrological research, both at home and abroad. He was named Officer of the Order of Canada in October 1999.
Following his retirement in 1980, Bob became increasingly involved in exploring the possibilities of tidal power development around the world, making assessment of the tidal power potential at sites ranging from Cook Inlet, Alaska to Gulf of Khambat, India. He was also actively involved in the analysis of hydrologic data for planning and design of various projects in Honduras, Belize, Jamaica, Bolivia, Nepal, Egypt and the Zambezi River basin in Africa.
He was associated with the WMO Commission for Hydrology, in its work since its first session in Washington, in 1961. He took the initiative in developing "Guide and Technical Regulations" as chairman of the working group during the third session of the Commission, held in Geneva in 1968. In its fourth session at Buenos Aires in 1972, the Commission designated Mr. Clark as the Vice-President of the Commission. At the following session at Ottawa the Commission unanimously elected him as the President and was re-elected in Madrid in 1980. Under his leadership the Commission substantially contributed to the preparation of the United Nations Water Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1977. Mr. Clark was an ardent advocate of the CHy dealing more effectively with water resources management.
Hydrological Achievements[edit]
Bob Clark worked to establish importance of informed water management as a cornerstone of national and international public policy to achieve all round development and greater well-being. He served the international hydrological community, particularly through the WMO Commission for Hydrology.
Reference Material[edit]
Source: WMO Obituary for Bob Clark
Major Publications[edit]
Book
Clark, R. H., 2007, Elements of Tidal-Electric Engineering, John Wiley and Sons/IEEE Press. ISBN: 978-0-470-10709-6
Bruce, J.P. and Clark, R.H., 1966, 2013. Introduction to Hydrometeorology: Pergamon International Library of Science, Technology, Engineering and Social Studies. Elsevier
Papers
Clark, RH, 1997, Prospects for fundy tidal power, HOUILLE BLANCHE-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE L EAU, 52(3): 79-
Clark, R.H. and Persoage, N.P., 1970. Some implications of crustal movement in engineering planning. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 7(2), pp.628-633.
