Vern Clark
Chairman of the Board, SRI International
Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy (retired)

Admiral Vern Clark joined SRI's Board of Directors in 2007, and was named its Chairman in 2010.

Admiral Clark retired in 2005 after completing the Navy’s second-longest tenure as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). He served aboard naval destroyers and commanded the Carl Vinson Battle Group/Cruiser Destroyer Group Three, the Second Fleet, and the Atlantic Fleet. Previously, he served in several capacities in the Office of Naval Operations, including Special Assistant to the Director of the Systems Analysis Division, Administrative Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, and Administrative Aide to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral Clark directed the Joint Staff’s Crisis Action Team for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Admiral Clark serves on the boards of Raytheon Company, Horizon Lines, Rolls Royce North America, the Armed Forces YMCA, and the World Board of Governors of the USO. He serves as a senior advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton, the Defense Policy Board, and to the advisory boards of Fleishman-Hillard, Computer Science Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Robertson Aviation, and the Executive Committee of Military Ministry.

He holds an MBA from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Evangel University. He attended Officer Candidate School and received his Navy commission in August 1968.