About The Technovator
The Technovator is part of UMass Boston’s Taylor Center, named for Clark Edson Taylor, a UMass Boston professor for three decades. Taylor was an emerging-technology aficionado and a true believer in experiential learning and university/community partnerships. His son, Jeff Taylor, sponsored the founding of an emerging media center on campus in honor of his father’s retirement in 2001.
Clark Taylor was a leading figure in the creation of UMass Boston’s College of Public & Community Service (CPCS). CPCS was a competency-based program free of the external rewards of grades and course-credit hours. This innovative program focused on degrees for non-traditional students. Most CPCS students were adults returning to college to earn or complete their degrees and were afforded the option to move at their own pace. Clark continued this work until his retirement in 2001. The programs of this innovative school are now housed in schools and centers across the University.
Originally from Naperville, Illinois, Clark Taylor graduated DePauw University with a degree in history and philosophy. He played football and was a trombone player in the marching band during both his high school and college years. Clark attended the Evangelical Theological Seminary and became the director of urban work for the Council of Churches, where he was involved with the racial integration of schools and the integration of the building trades. Clark earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning and a PhD at Rutgers University before joining the faculty at UMass Boston.
An intellectual and social activist, Clark was the board chair for Grassroots International, and chaired the Social Action Committee and the Immigration Task Force at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Needham. Clark and his wife Kay, married 64 years, created and led, for two decades, a partnership between the Congregational Church of Needham and the village of Santa Maria Tzeja in Guatemala, providing educational, housing, and clean water support. Clark wrote two books regarding his experiences in Guatemala and Central America.
The Technovator reflects Clark’s philosophy, “Technology, in all its forms, is an important enabler to greater enjoyment on life’s journey.”