The Presidents Council established the Alumni Leadership Award in 2025 to identify and recognize exceptional volunteer service and distinguished leadership in support of the St. Paul’s School community. This honor is bestowed at the discretion of the Presidents Council upon alumni who demonstrate a deep and enduring commitment to the mission and values of the School — both through their own generous contributions and by inspiring others to engage and give back. Their leadership strengthens the bonds of our community and helps ensure that the spirit of St. Paul’s School endures for generations to come.
The inaugural recipient of the award is former trustee Bobby Clark ’61, P’82,’85,’88,’93, who will be honored during the Alumni Association Annual Meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, when his form celebrates its 65th reunion during Anniversary Weekend.
Clark has devoted more than seven decades to supporting St. Paul’s School through leadership, service and philanthropy. From his time as a student leader and standout athlete to decades of alumni engagement and trustee service, his commitment reflects a lifelong dedication to the School’s community and values.
2026 ALUMNI LEADERSHIP AWARD RECIPIENT
Bobby Clark ’61, P’82,’85,’88,’93
Clark loves to do things for the long haul, as he puts it. He devoted 20 years to supporting the nonprofit Project Adventure. He built a 45-year career at the stock brokerage firm Wainwright and Co. He and his wife, Carroll, have been married for 63 years. And for 70 years, he’s loved and supported St. Paul’s — first as a student and then as an alumnus who’s served as form agent, main agent and form director; as the Alumni Association assistant treasurer and president; on The SPS Fund Leadership Committee; and as a trustee from 1980 to 1999.
Three brothers preceded him at St. Paul’s, but Clark made the School his own, especially as an athlete — by the time he graduated, he was a standout football player, captain of hockey and crew, and the winner of the Gordon Medal. The generosity of spirit he showed teammates and competitors alike, along with the friendships he made and the lessons he learned at SPS in teambuilding, sportsmanship and community, have endured.
“St. Paul’s is where we developed our sense of values, and kids today are getting the same sense of values and community that we got,” says Clark, who, in addition to his four children, has had four grandchildren graduate from SPS. “Being a team player and giving back are the two big things. The School gave us so much and set us on our way.”
“I’ve gotten a whole lot more back from St. Paul’s than what I gave… I hope I’ve made a difference.”
When Clark thinks about his legacy of service to the School what comes to mind are not decisions made during board meetings, helping to establish the Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award with the late Coley Burke ’59 in the 1990s or his 44-year streak of donating to The SPS Fund, but the form that he’s helped keep close and the students that he supported by showing up.
“I would hope that there are alumni out there who I had a small impact on while they were at St. Paul’s. I was very supportive of my kids’ athletic teams and tried to make the experience special by giving out sweatshirts and stuff like that,” says Clark. “I hardly ever missed a game, and my kids all played three sports, so I never really left the School. I tried to be a role model for supporting these kids, particularly when they lost a game.”
Clark was at home in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, when Alumni Association President Caroline LaVoie ’88, P’20,’21 called to share the news that he’d been selected as the first recipient of a new award created to recognize exceptional volunteer service and distinguished leadership in support of the St. Paul’s School community. “Do I have to tell you I cried? It’s a very humbling award to get,” he says. “I’ve been so involved with giving out a similar award for so long that to then have somebody recognize me is very, very special.”
If Clark could give a message to the 13-year-old boy that he was when he arrived in Millville seven decades ago, he says he’d tell him to enjoy the moment, despite the academic struggles and the moments of uncertainty. His words are another show of support for today’s students, too, as they navigate teenage life.
“Make sure you work hard and enjoy the moment and the phase of your life where you are, because the next phase is going to come and you’re going to do fine,” Clark says. “I’m now in the last phase, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes but in balance I’ve been very fortunate. I can honestly say I wouldn’t change anything in my life.”
When Clark visits the School these days, he always stops by the football field and the hockey rink to hear the echoes of his boyhood teammates and lifelong friends. For as long as his body allowed, the former marathoner would run the cross country trail and walk around Lower School Pond, where he reveled in the place that he and the next two generations of his family have called one of their homes in the world.
“I’ve gotten a whole lot more back from St. Paul’s than what I gave, but it was given with love. It wasn’t a chore,” he says. “I hope I’ve made a difference.”