Brian Aaron Martin Clark

Brian and I were brothers. Or I should say half brothers. Martin Clark was our father. I never got to meet our dad and when I went looking for him years ago I found out I missed him my a couple of months as he had passed away in a car accident before I could make contact. For some reason this week I felt the urge to try and find Brian. Now I am so saddened to find out I missed him by months as well. I am so glad that he and Sara had time together and loved each other so much. To anyone who reads this if there is someone in your life you want to reach out to but have not do so. Don't waste another moment.

Brother...I am sorry we never got to meet, talk politics, eat pizza and let you tell me about our Dad. Maybe someday we will get the chance. Hopefully I will see you on the other side.

A bright light gone too soon. He always had a passion, maybe unrefined when we were acquaintances, but most certainly present. At that time of our lives, all of us were a work in process. My heart hurt to hear this news, as many did, I´m sure. There are no words that can offer total comfort, only memories can ease the pain of loss.

I met Brian through Sara when I was a PhD student at the University of Oregon. It breaks my heart to see him gone. May he rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with Sara and the family.

I met Brian through my sister, who had met him and Sara when they were students at UNC-Greensboro. The foundation of our friendship was that we were both in academia (though in different disciplines), and I greatly admired Brian's intelligence and moral fortitude: He was determined to use his training in psychology to better society. We did not communicate all that often, but whenever we did, I enjoyed learning from him and discussing my own life as an academic. In June of 2024, Brian emailed me, noting that we hadn't spoken since the pandemic in 2020, and he wanted to reconnect with me. I gladly did so, and we spent about two hours speaking via Zoom: He told me about his and Sara's experience living in Latin America. Neither of us knew that would be the time we would speak to each other, and I am extremely grateful that I had chance to speak with him one last time. He was such a good man, and I am heartily sorry that he is gone.

Brian was inspirational and yet retained his down to earth sense of humor. I remember he was always prepared with a quip and once after finding an error in my work he responded "null perspiration". Such an outside-the-box comment that combined his wit and stats knowledge, that I will forever keep that line to use for "no sweat"

I feel so terribly for this loss to the world. I only met Brian and Sara a few times in person, but they were always on a real mission to help this world. There are no words to describe how robbed the world is to not have this brain helping to solve on going problems. Stay on the best journeys or the next plane or where ever you may be; where ever it is it's their gain and our loss! Love you, aunt Sam lol

Brian and I often found ourselves navigating the complexities of politics and bureaucracy while working on major projects. He had this incredible way of balancing the seriousness of our work with humor that made those challenges easier to manage. A recent memory that stands out is when he quoted LL Cool J´s lyric, "Don´t call it a comeback, I been here for years, I´m rockin' my peers, puttin' suckers in fear," referring to how our institution was trying to rebrand something as new, when in reality, the Student Wellbeing & Success Initiative had been measuring and addressing it for years. He always had a knack for making me laugh while pushing me to think more deeply about our work and how we could find solutions together.

I have a bunch of stories and thoughts but I think this one thing sums up my work connection with Brian, an amazing human, who is greatly missed but has a left us all a true legacy.
"We're trying to do science here." -Brian Clark, EMU CAKE 2019