Clarke, a political scientist and research methodologist, was an internationally recognized expert on voting and elections. His academic career included appointments in political science at the University of Windsor in Ontario and Virginia Tech. From 1998 to 2001, Clarke served as Regents Professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of North Texas. When he arrived at UT Dallas, he was the editor of the prestigious scholarly journal Electoral Studies and joint editor of Political Research Quarterly. Clarke received his PhD from Duke University and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from The University of Western Ontario.