{{short description|English economist}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William D. Clark | office = Downing Street Press Secretary | prime_minister = Anthony Eden | term_start = 1955 | term_end = 1956 | predecessor = Fife Clark | successor = Alfred Richardson | birth_place = Haltwhistle, Northumberland, England | alma_mater = Oriel College, Oxford<br />University of Chicago | birth_name = William Donaldson Clark | birth_date = {{birth date|1916|6|28|df=yes}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1985|6|27|1916|6|28|df=yes}} | death_place = Cuxham, Oxfordshire, England | education = Oundle School }}
'''William Donaldson Clark''' (28 July 1916 – 27 June 1985) was an English economist and public servant.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=30936|first=Nicholas|last=Herbert|title=Clark, William Donaldson}}</ref>
== Early life == Clark was born on 28 July 1916, in the Northumbrian town of Haltwhistle, the son of John McClare Clark and Marion Jackson. He was educated at the independent Oundle School and graduated from Oriel College, Oxford with a First Class degree in modern history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/clark/clark.html|title=Clark Papers|website=www.bodley.ox.ac.uk|access-date=2019-06-26}}</ref> Clark attended the University of Chicago in 1938 as a Commonwealth Fellow. During World War II he worked doing public relations for Britain in the United States.
== Career == Clark became the London editor of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' in 1946, a post he left for journalism in 1949. In the early 1950s he became a foreign affairs correspondent for ''The Observer''. He became press secretary to Anthony Eden on 1 October 1955, but resigned shortly after the Suez Crisis, on 7 November 1956.<ref name="NYT85">[https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/29/world/william-clark-dies-in-britain-writer-was-world-bank-aide.html "William Clark Dies in Britain; Writer Was World Bank Aide"], ''New York Times'', 29 June 1985</ref> In 1968 he said that ''The'' ''Manchester Guardian'''s anti-Suez leading articles were one of the main reasons why Eden asked for the BBC to be bought under direct control of the Government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/century/1960-1969/Story/0,,106500,00.html|title=Guardian leaders rattled Eden {{!}} 1960-1969 {{!}} Guardian Century|website=www.theguardian.com|access-date=2019-06-26}}</ref>
The first director of the Overseas Development Institute from 1960 to 1968, Clark then joined the World Bank and from 1974 to 1980 was their Vice President in Charge of External Affairs.<ref name="NYT85" />
== Death == Clark died on the night of 27 June 1985 of liver cancer at his home in Cuxham, Oxfordshire. He was survived by his two brothers Kenneth and Nicholas.<ref name="NYT85" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTARCHIVES/0,,contentMDK:20270997~menuPK:542609~pagePK:36726~piPK:437378~theSitePK:29506~isCURL:Y,00.html Clarke's papers] at the World Bank
{{S-start}} {{S-gov}} {{Succession box|title=Downing Street Press Secretary|years=1955–1956||before=Fife Clark|after=Alfred Richardson}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, William D}} Category:1916 births Category:1985 deaths Category:People educated at Oundle School Category:20th-century British economists Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Deaths from liver cancer in England Category:People from Haltwhistle Category:Press secretaries Category:The Observer people Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Category:World Bank people