Bunny Cowan Clark

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Bunny Cowan Clark (September 8, 1935 – October 2015) was an American nuclear physicist and a professor of physics at Ohio State University. She was born in El Paso, Texas, and showed an early interest in science, encouraged by her parents.

Education and early work
- B.S. in 1958 and M.S. in 1963 from Kansas State University.
- Ph.D. in physics from Wayne State University in 1973.
- Early in her career she worked at General Motors for nine years, where she developed important computer skills.

Academic career
- Joined the physics faculty at Ohio State University in 1981 and became a full professor in 1986.
- Her research focused on theoretical nuclear physics.

Advocacy and challenges
- A passionate advocate for women in physics, Clark spoke about her experiences as a woman in science and helped create the American Physical Society Committee on the Status of Women in Physics.
- In 1994, after an incident involving a female graduate student, she stopped accepting new graduate students to emphasize fairness and mentorship.

Publications and recognition
- Authored or co-authored more than 60 scientific papers and wrote about women in physics.
- Honors include Fellow of the American Physical Society and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Fowler Award for Excellence in Nuclear Physics (Ohio Section, APS), and Distinguished University Professor at Ohio State University.
- Inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.

Mentoring and endowments
- Together with her husband, Tom, she created the Bunny and Thomas Clark Scholarship Endowment Fund at OSU’s Physics Department to support undergraduate and graduate students, with a focus on women and minorities.
- After her death, the Bunny C. Clark Student Support Fund was established to continue supporting students.