Fifty-five years ago, on what seemed like an ordinary day, Greg Clark (MA '85) and his military partner finished their assignment early. They could report back to their unit—or slip away to the base library. The choice was easy. As the two rummaged through the book stacks, Clark’s eyes landed on a book titled Psychology. The moment, quiet and unexpected, would go on to shape hundreds of lives—starting with Clark’s.

Clark's life’s work revolved around Veteran counseling, outreach, and advocacy. For his service in the United States Army as a Chief Warrant Officer 2, and his work since, he has been selected as one of five recipients for the 2025 Hawkeye Distinguished Veterans Award. 

The award honors members of the armed forces who have demonstrated exceptional service to the United States, their communities, and the university. He will be honored at a special ceremony Friday, Nov 7, at 4:30 p.m. in the Richey Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union and during half-time of the Iowa-Oregon game Nov. 8. The Friday ceremony is free and open to the public.

Clark is a College of Education alumnus of the former Counseling and Human Development Master of Arts program. Counselor Education Professor Emerita Vilia Tarvydas nominated Clark after years of witnessing his work with the college and Veteran community in Iowa City and across the state.

“Greg is unique in his ability to integrate his rich personal experiences as a Veteran who has been through the most trying circumstances, heal and make meaning of all these experiences with trauma and challenge, and turn them into a positive force to guide others in seeing their own way forward,” says Tarvydas. “His encouragement and support have literally saved countless lives.”

Clark’s military career began at 19. After basic and heavy equipment training, he was shipped to Vietnam in ’68, where he was wounded in action and awarded the Purple Heart. For his service in Vietnam, Clark was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. He served a final tour in Thailand, where he stumbled across the book on psychology that sparked his next steps.

“I don’t remember what it was, but the book revealed something about me, to me,” Greg recalled. “It’s very intriguing to learn about yourself in that way. So that kind of got me started.”

In the five years following his discharge, Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Chapman College in California. In ’76, he reenlisted for helicopter flight training and served five more years as a pilot, earning the Senior Army Aviator Badge. After 12 years and two enlistments, Clark returned to his home state of Iowa in 1980.  

Back in Iowa, Clark threw himself into several new ventures at once—joining LifeGuard, the state’s first air ambulance service, where he flew alongside a fellow Vietnam veteran; launching a volunteer “rap” therapy group for local vets; and beginning graduate studies at the University of Iowa College of Education, where he earned a Master of Arts in counseling and human development.

When the federal government set out to establish a Veterans Center in Cedar Rapids, Clark was a natural choice to lead the effort. But getting the new center off the ground wasn’t easy.

“There was no budget authorized. I got a salary, but I didn't have money for rent or chairs or paper or pencils or anything,” Clark recalls. By rallying local veterans and community members, he helped raise enough funds to launch the center until official support came some years later.

The toughest challenge, however, wasn’t funding—it was trust. Many Veterans were hesitant to seek counseling, convinced their struggles were too personal, painful, or unique.  

Clark worked to change that perception one conversation at a time. “Quite often, after their first group participation, a new veteran would come back and say, ‘Did you tell them about me?’” he recalls. “Everything they were talking about was what they were dealing with. These guys thought, ‘It’s just me that’s thinking this way.’ But it’s not.”

Thousands of miles and tens of years from Thailand, Clark’s work remained guided by a book he read sitting in the back of a crane during his first enlistment--Victor Frankl’s 1946 book Man’s Search for Meaning. The book lays out the concept of logotherapy, which spoke to him because it never advocates for ignoring trauma and suffering. Instead, the goal is to add meaning to them.  

“You can't un-remember your buddy dying in your arms. That's not an option. For example, I worked with a medic client of mine from Vietnam, and one of his buddies in his platoon had died in his arms. So we talked about it from a logotherapeutic perspective, and he asked, 'How do you find the meaning in that?' So, what we came up with is, well, for one, he didn't die alone. Maybe the family would like to know that he died in the arms of somebody who loved him. He wasn't alone. He was being cared for."

Clark’s impact reached far beyond the Veterans he counseled each week. For decades, he delivered lectures on disasters, PTSD, and logotherapy, across Iowa, nationally, and internationally—including at the University of Iowa. He also taught The Psychology of Disaster at Upper Iowa University and started the first Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team serving Eastern Iowa’s Fire, Police and EMS personnel following their involvement in a critical incident. He led workshops and trainings for hospitals, universities, and crisis centers, and was frequently called upon to conduct PTSD evaluations for officers involved in shootings.

The work kept him busy for decades. Though he retired in 2018, Clark still offers occasional evaluations and referrals for those struggling with PTSD. When asked why he chose this line of work, his answer is simple:

“I can’t think of a better way of living my life than trying to be of service to those who have first served us.” 

There are currently 142 Veterans and military-connected (VMC) individuals in the College of Education. This includes active members, Veterans and military-connected spouses or family-members.

Past Hawkeye Distinguished Veterans Awards recipients from the UI College of Education include the following:

• College of Education Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) Faculty Emeritus and Lt. (retired) Ernest “Ernie” Pascarella, U.S. Marine Corps, in 2015
• HESA alumnus and Capt. Jeremy Williams, U.S. Army Reserves, in 2017
• Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Program alumna Tiffany Baker-Strothkamp, U.S. Army, in 2018
• HESA doctoral candidate and United States Air Force Senior Airman Yareli Reeve-Mendoza, received the Inaugural Hawkeye Distinguished Veterans “Larry Lockwood” Student Award in 2023

Read this Iowa Now story, "Meet UI's 2025 Hawkeye Distinguished Veterans Award recipients," to learn more.

Learn more about the Veteran and Military-Connected Community at Iowa.