Burton R. Clark papers, circa 1955-2009
Finding aid prepared by Kelly Besser in consultation with University Archivist Charlotte Brown; machine-readable finding aid
created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1575
(310) 825-4988
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
©2014 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Burton R. Clark papers
Collection number: 1861
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5.5 linear ft.
(1 document box and 5 record storage cartons.)
Date: circa 1955-2009
Abstract: Robert Burton Clark, UCLA Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Sociology, was one of the first sociologists to study
higher education from a global perspective. His research interests include comparative higher education, development of graduate
schools, entrepreneurial universities, and sustaining change in universities. Materials include transcripts of presentations,
speeches and lectures as well as conference files, research files, publications, reprints, and alphabetical files of correspondence.
Language of Materials: Materials are in English.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Creator:
Clark, Burton R.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Burton Robert Clark papers (Collection 1861). UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California,
Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donated by Adele Clark to University Archives, 2010.
Processing Information
Processed by Kelly Besser in consultation with University Archivist Charlotte Brown.
Biography/History
Burton “Bob” Clark earned his Ph.D. in Sociology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1954. Clark was the first
incumbent of the Allan M. Cartter Professorship and served in that post until his formal retirement as Professor Emeritus
of Higher Education and Sociology, UCLA. During his career, he taught at five American research universities in departments
of sociology and graduate schools of education: Stanford University (Sociology, 1953-1956); Harvard University (Education,
1956-1958); UC Berkeley (Education, 1958-1966); Yale University (Sociology, 1966-1980); and UCLA (Education, 1980-1991). Clark
was one of the first sociologists to study higher education from a global perspective. His research interests include comparative
higher education, development of graduate schools, entrepreneurial universities, and sustaining change in universities. Clark’s
cross-national research laid the foundation for his landmark book,
Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways of Transformation (1998). Clark’s numerous publications also include
The Open Door College (1960),
The Distinctive College (1970),
Academic Power in Italy (1977),
The Academic Life: Small Worlds, Different Worlds (1987), and
Places of Inquiry, Research and Advanced Education in Modern Universities (1995). In 1989 he was elected fellow of the British Society for Research into Higher Education and became a Distinguished
Member of the European Association for Institutional Research in 1997. The following year he received the Comenius Medal from
UNESCO and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from the universities of Strathclyde (1998) and Turku (2000). Clark died
on October 28, 2009.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of records related to Burton R. Clark's career as a professor of education and sociology at the University
of California, Los Angeles. Materials include transcripts of presentations, speeches and lectures, conference files, research
files, publications, reprints, and alphabetical files of correspondence.
Organization and Arrangement
This collection was arranged according to the creator's original order.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Clark, Burton R.--Archives.
University of California, Los Angeles. School of Education--Faculty--Archives.
Sociologists--United States--Archives.
Box 1, Folder 1
The Academic Life: Small Worlds, Different Worlds.
1987-1990.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning Clark's book.
Box 1, Folder 2
The Academic Profession: National, Disciplinary, and Institutional Settings.
1985-1988.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning Clark's book.
Box 1, Folder 3
Nominations for awards.
Scope and Content
Correspondence concerning nominations for awards.
Box 1, Folders 4-5
Biographical files.
Scope and Content
Copies of Clark's curriculum vitae and biographies.
Box 1, Folder 6
Reviews and commentary on Burton R. Clark publications.
Scope and Content
Reviews and commentary regarding Places of Inquiry: Research and Advanced Education in Modern Universities and Educating the
Expert Society.
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence.
Scope and Content Note
General correspondence and emails. See also: Alphabetical files by correspondent's last name.
Box 1, Folder 8
Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways to Transformation.
1997-1999.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning Clark's book.
Box 1, Folder 9
The Distinctive College: Antioch, Reed & Swarthmore.
1969-1979.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning Clark's book.
Box 1, Folder 10
The Encyclopedia of Higher Education.
1993-1994.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning this encyclopedia edited by Clark and Guy Neave.
Box 1, Folder 11
Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research.
1998-1999.
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence concerning Clark's autobiographical essay for Volume 15.
Box 1, Folders 12-14
The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective.
1982-1996.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning Clark's book.
Box 1, Folder 15
Comenius Medal (UNESCO) speech.
1998 October 4-9.
Scope and Content
Copies of Clark's "University Transformation for the Twenty-First Century," remarks delivered to an international audience
of ministers of education and their national delegations, upon award of the Comenius Medal, at the UNESCO World Conference
on Higher Education, Paris, France. The Jan Amos Comenius Medal is intended to reward and promote outstanding achievements
and innovations carried out in the fields of teaching and educational research, as well as to commemorate the spiritual heritage
of Jan Amos Comenius.
Box 1, Folder 16
Presentations, speeches.
1991, 2005-2006.
Scope and Content
An outline for Clark's fireside chat with UCLA Higher Education and Organizational Change graduate students, a copy of "Europe
in Transition: Implications for U.S. Higher Education," remarks prepared for a panel discussion at the 73rd Annual Meeting
of the American Council in Education and a copy of "Pursuing the Entrepreneurial University," his plenary keynote address
for international conference, Innovation and Change in the University, Brazil.
Box 1, Folder 17
Public lectures.
circa 1975-1984.
Scope and Content
Copies of Clark's lectures and outlines for public talks including "The Professoriate: Occupation in Crisis," "Integration
and Change in National Systems of Higher Education," "Access in Differing Political Systems," "The Development and Structure
of American Higher Education," "Comparative Higher Education," "Higher Education: Unique Problems, Tasks and Mechanisms of
Control," "Broadening Our Research Horizons: Comparative Higher Education," "Californian Higher Education in Comparative Perspective,"
"Higher Education: The U.S. as a Deviant Case," "Access Problems in Comparative Perspectives and the Cooling Out Function
Revisited," "The Open Door College: Reflections and Reconsiderations," "Italy - with special reference to Governance," "American
Higher Education: An Overview," "The Symbolic Side of Educational Organizations," "The Making of an Educational Saga," "The
Usefulness of the Social Sciences" and "Organization, Image and Environment."
Box 1, Folders 18-22
Reprints [authored by Burton R. Clark].
1960-2000.
Scope and Content Note
Arranged chronologically.
Box 1, Folders 23-24
Perspectives on Higher Education: Eight Disciplinary and Comparative Views.
1983-1987.
Scope and Content
Correspondence, reviews and excerpts of this book edited by Clark.
Box 1, Folders 25-26
Places of Inquiry: Research and Advanced Education in Modern Universities.
1992-2001.
Scope and Content
Reviews and correspondence concerning Clark's book.
Box 1, Folders 27-28
The Research Foundations of Graduate Education.
1991-1993; 2000.
Scope and Content
Correspondence, reviews and excerpts of this book edited by Clark.
Box 1, Folders 29-30
The School and the University: An International Perspective.
1984-1989; 1997.
Scope and Content
Correspondence, reviews and excerpts of this book edited by Clark.
Box 1, Folders 31-32
Personal files.
1954-1993.
Scope and Content
Materials include personal and professional correspondence, job offers, UCLA's 35th Commencement booklet and the announcement
for Clark's Ph.D. final exam.
Box 1, Folders 33-34
BRC papers.
Scope and Content
Bibliographies, book reviews, articles and copies of presentations.
Box 2, Folders 1-7
Photographs.
circa 1964-1994.
Scope and Content
Photographs of Clark and his colleagues at conferences.
Box 2, Folders 8-80
[Alphabetical files: A to E].
Scope and Content
Materials include correspondence arranged alphabetically by institution, conference, country, article or presentation title
or correspondent's last name.
Box 3, Folders 1-86
[Alphabetical files: F to N].
Scope and Content
Materials include correspondence arranged alphabetically by institution, conference, country, article or presentation title
or correspondent's last name.
Box 4, Folders 1-61
[Alphabetical files: Neave, Guy to T].
Scope and Content
Materials include correspondence arranged alphabetically by institution, conference, country, article or presentation title
or correspondent's last name.
Box 5, Folders 1-20
[Alphabetical files: U to Z].
Scope and Content
Materials include correspondence arranged alphabetically by institution, conference, country, article or presentation title
or correspondent's last name.
Box 5, Folders 21-53
Publications and reprints [authored by Burton Robert Clark].
Scope and Content
Materials include "Faculty Organization and Authority," "The Culture of College," "Sociology of Education," Economy, Change
and Renewal," "Knowledge, Industry and Adult Competence," "The Character of Colleges," "College, Image and Student Selection,"
"The Cooling-Out Function," "The Coming Shape of Higher Education in the United States," "Organizational Adaption and Precarious
Values," "Interorganizational Patterns in Education," "The Cooling-Out Function Revisited," "The Organizational Saga in Higher
Education," "Education: The Study of Educational Systems," "The Wesleyan Story: The Importance of Moral Capital," "Development
of the Sociology of Higher Education," "The Dossier in Colleges and Universities," "Dynamics of Academic Society," "The Organizational
Foundations of University Capability: Differentiation and Competition in the Academic Sector of Society" and "Belief and Loyalty
in College Organization."
Box 5, Folders 54-74
Conference files.
Scope and Content
Materials include copies of Clark's presentations and publications from conferences.
Box 5, Folders 75-79
Research files.
Scope and Content
Articles and clippings concerning research universities, research based teaching and learning and economics in Europe. Materials
also include Clark's manuscript, "Academic Federalism: The American Experience in International Perspective."
Box 6
Publications and reprints [authored by Burton Robert Clark].
Scope and Content
Materials include "The Marginality of Adult Education," "Problems of Access in the Context of Academic Structures," "The Absorbing
Errand," "Comparative Analysis of Systems of Higher Education," "The Many Faces of Academic Coordination," "The Changing Relations
Between Higher Education and Government: Some Perspectives From Abroad," "Graduate Schools and Professional Schools: Some
Cross-National Comparisons," "Mass Education and Advanced Education: Are They Necessarily Antithetical?" and "Excellence and
Equality in a Setting of Patrimonial Politics: The Case of Italy."