Gertrude Margaret Clarke, Phd

Dr. Gertrude Margaret Clarke, founder and executive director (1981-1999) of the New JerseyBusiness/Industry/Science/Education Consortium, and the first woman president of the NewJersey Inventors Hall of Fame, died on May 15th, 2020 near the age of 88.Gert, as she was known to friends and family, was born on May 28th, 1932 in Franklin, N.J. Sheattended Franklin High, earned her baccalaureate degree from Douglas College in 1954,attended pre-doctoral courses at Rutgers University, and studied atomic, nuclear, and solidstate physics at Yale University Graduate School. She received her PHD from Rutgers in 1987.Dr. Clarke dedicated herself to education, serving as a teacher of science (particularly physicsand nucleonics) at Chatham High School, and earned recognition from Princeton University aswell as the National Science Teachers Association. She took a one year sabbatical to conductresearch at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. After conducting independent research on"The Generation of Electromagnetic Radiation by the Interaction of Charged Particle BeamsTransiting Periodic Structures", (primarily using the Rutgers University Accelerator in NewBrunswick), she was given the opportunity in 1975 to continue her research using the cyclotronat Harvard University.Besides her passion for science and teaching, Gert had a life-long love of music. She played thepiano and composed classical pieces - beginning as early as 1947- when she was fifteen, andshe was a long standing supporter of the Philharmonic Orchestra. Gert also enjoyed skiing,skating, swimming, and perhaps most of all, she loved sailing. For approximately 40 years, shesailed with dear friends at Lake Glen Wild, where she took great joy in the friendly competitionand many happy times.Predeceased by her father, Waldo J. Clarke, her mother, Gertrude Margaret Clarke, and her twobrothers, Hall and David, Gert is survived by her dear sister, Carol DiVico, and a lovingextended family. The burial will be privately held. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you considera donation to the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.