Neville P. Clarke

Neville P. Clarke, 91, passed away suddenly on February 12, 2022, at his home in Bryan.  Dr. Clarke served in the Air Force from May 1954 to August 1975.  After he retired, he worked at Texas A&M until just recently.

Dr. Clarke's family has a long history with St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. His great-grandfather was a member of the founding vestry and he had been active in the church for more than 25 years.

As a career Air Force R&D officer, Dr. Clarke conducted research on environmental physiology in support of NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo manned spaceflight missions and directed the Air Force’s research programs on aircrew protection against crash injury. He participated as a volunteer subject in more than 700 experiments on acceleration, vibration, altitude, thermal stressors. He was the Project Officer for the flight test program to develop the first encapsulated aircrew ejection system for the supersonic B-58 Hustler bomber. He served as director of the overall Air Force’s medical research program for five years, where he was responsible for initiating the modern development of aircrew and air base protection against Chemical and Biological weapons.

At Texas A&M, Dr. Clarke started as Associate Dean for Research in the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and was Director Emeritus of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.  He was actively involved in international research on food and agriculture in several developing countries in Africa from 1982 to 1998 with focus on poverty alleviation and food security.  He was actively involved in agricultural biosecurity since 1996, serving as advisor to the USDA and developing new projects at Texas A&M.  He served as the Founding Director of the Department of Homeland Security National Center of Excellence on Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense from 2004 to 2010.  Dr. Clarke served as the Special Assistant for Program Development to the Vice Chancellor for Agriculture of the Texas A&M System from 2010 until just recently. And he was the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Livestock Research Institute with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr. Clarke was preceded in death by his wife, Marselaine (Marsy).  He is survived by his children, Susan Clarke, Larry Clarke, and Andrew Clarke; his grandchildren, Courtney Clarke and Marshall Clarke; and his nephews, Don Mason, Frank Clarke Mittel, and Ross Mittel.

Dr. Clarke will be cremated.  A reception with his urn will be at Hillier Funeral Home at 2301 E 29th Street in Bryan, from 5-8 PM, on Wednesday February 23, 2022. Services will be at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, at 11:00 AM, on Thursday February 24, 2022.  Following the service, his urn will be interned beside his wife, Marsy, at the Bryan City Cemetery.