Ryan Clark, Ph.D.

Dr. Ryan Clark is the Director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies (NDAA).

Ryan serves in several capacities within the Institute and ACE. He has spent the last fifteen years as a member of the NDAA team, partnering with vulnerable Catholic schools nationally to revitalize and increase the number of quality Catholic school options. Before being named the director, Ryan served as Coordinator of Partnerships and Team Development and Coordinator of Teaching and Learning. He also supports the Pursuing Achievement Through Higher Education (PATH) unit, a graduate support program that seeks to accompany students on the path into and through postsecondary education.

Ryan teaches leadership and strategic planning courses for the IEI STEM Center. Clark served as faculty of supervision and instruction for the ACE Teaching Fellows program from 2006 to 2010, where he taught courses and supervised teacher formation.

He has been teaching and working in K-12 and higher education for 30 years as a classroom teacher, faculty, administrator, and researcher. Clark began his teaching career in Baltimore, and then went on to teach in Montgomery as a member of the 3rd cohort of the ACE Teaching Fellows. He then spent several years teaching middle school in Portland. He received a BA in History and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, a Master's in Teaching from the University of Portland, and a PhD in Education Policy from the University of Oregon.