UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Darlene Clark, assistant teaching professor in the College of Nursing, is the 2019 recipient of Penn State's Barash Award for Human Service.
Created in 1975 by the family of the late Sy Barash, the award honors a full-time member of the faculty or staff or student body on the University Park campus who, apart from his or her regular duties, has contributed the most to human causes, public service activities and organizations, or the welfare of fellow humans.
Colleagues said Clark was awarded for her outstanding leadership, tireless community service efforts, bridging town and gown relations and working with students beyond what’s expected as an educator.
Clark is an excellent nurse who has shared her compassion and knowledge with nursing students through direct nursing care for patients and families in Centre County for many years,” a nominator said. “She is an outstanding nursing instructor who has helped undergraduate nursing students become professional nurses. She has shared her knowledge both nationally and internationally through presentations and publications and has served as a mentor to many new faculty in the College of Nursing.”
Clark has spent 26 years serving in areas such as sustainability, globalization, women’s leadership, low-income health care and diversity. She volunteers with numerous organizations including Centre Volunteers in Medicine, the Out of the Cold Homeless project, the Centre County Council of Organizations, the United Nations Association of Centre County and the annual Penn State Powwow. She also served as faculty supervisor for medication administration for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon known as THON. Clark has volunteered as a faculty liaison for the Allied Health Professions Program at State College Area High School since 2013.
Since becoming a full-time faculty member in 1992, Clark has worked to educate and advance her students. She plays a major role as a faculty liaison in the Women’s Leadership Initiative in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD). Her commitment to students earned her the College of Nursing’s Janet A. Williamson Excellence in Teaching Award and the Nightingale Nurse Educator of the Year award for Pennsylvania. She received the Diversity Achievement Award in HHD in 2005. Clark served as a distinguished honors faculty member mentor from 2015-17.
At Penn State, Clark is a committed advocate for diversity, which she fought for on Penn State Faculty Senate from 2007-14. She served as a long-time member of the University Equal Opportunity Planning Committee (EOPC) from 2012-18. She also served on the President’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity(CORED) and was a faculty member on the Student Issues Management Team.