Clarence Robert Clements ’31, ’72 (Hon.); P’71, P’75

Clarence Robert Clements ’31, ’72 (Hon.); P’71, P’75

George Albert Wentworth Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics, Emeritus (1925-2023)

Upon the occasion of C. Robert Clements’ appointment as the George Albert Wentworth Professor of Mathematics in 1985, Principal Stephen Kurtz wrote, “You are living proof that ‘the school man,’ like the blue-footed booby you look for worldwide, is a species endangered but not extinct.”

And while it is true that much of Bob’s career was spent teaching and caring for students at boys’ boarding schools, he proved himself to be the consummate school person during his tenure at Exeter following coeducation after 1970. During his tenure as chair of the department, Bob was most proud of hiring and retaining women. “We have been able to attract and hold good mathematics teachers,” he said, “because of the quality of our program, because of the competence of our tenured members, and mostly, because of the generous collegiality embraced by all.”

Born July 5, 1925, in New York City, Bob and his brother, James, grew up in the Graham School for Boys in Hastings-On-Hudson, New York. They lived there until high school graduation, while always remaining in touch with their parents. Bob graduated a year early as class valedictorian in 1943.

During World War II, Bob served as a navigator in the U.S. Air Force. After the war, he enrolled at Hamilton College, graduating with a B.A. in 1949 and taking a teaching position at Choate. During the Korean War, Bob returned to duty in the Air Force, then rejoined the faculty at Choate, where he taught for two decades, becoming Math Department chair. He accepted an appointment at Exeter in 1969.

Colleague Eric Bergofsky believes Bob’s military experience served him well, particularly in moments of crisis. When, for example, a colleague or student was feeling unduly stressed, Bob remained calm. He had a knack for lowering the temperature of the moment and would often say, “Getting shot at over Korea while flying at 30,000 feet is a crisis; this is a problem we can solve.”

A veteran teacher, coach and dormitory adviser, Bob immediately made a name for himself at Exeter as a versatile and brilliant mathematician, a colorful character with a sharp wit and unwavering devotion to the responsibilities of boarding school life.

When asked to contribute to this remembrance for Bob, the response from alumni was overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. Elizabeth Scout Joy ’90 wrote, “Mr. Clements’ sarcastic, dry humor, chalky tweed jackets, and robust ’stache could be intimidating to some, but … [he] helped me gain a confidence that put me on the path to be a math major in college and then enjoy a career in finance.”

John A. Koski ’91 said, “Mr. Clements was truly a remarkable instructor. … His subject was mathematics, of course, but the learnings from Mr. Clements’ classroom were broader and encompassed core skills of critical thinking and broad problem solving. He certainly represented the paradigm of the Exeter teacher … a union of goodness and knowledge.”

Bob’s influence, however, went far beyond the classroom. Charles Neuhaus ’79 remembers ending up in the infirmary with a broken arm and tooth, chagrined that he would be there for at least a week. He wrote, “Much to my surprise, a couple of days into my stay, Mr. Clements brought our entire math class to the infirmary, so I wouldn’t be left out … and fall behind in my studies. This gesture meant more to me than you can imagine. … Mr. Clements was more than a math teacher; he was a good friend.”

In 1981, in honor of his work in the dormitory, parents of a former Exonian who lived in the dorm with Bob and his wife, Louise, established the C. Robert Clements Scholarship, a financial aid fund for handicapped students. Both Clementses held this award in the highest esteem of Bob’s “awarded honors” and corresponded regularly with the recipients.

Bob certainly met the challenge of Exeter’s triple threat: classroom, dormitory and athletics. He coached football, golf, track and squash at Exeter. Derek Stal ’89 remembered that as a tennis player making the transition to squash, his “interactions with Mr. Clements were among my most memorable at PEA. I can still hear him from the gallery above the courts, issuing somewhat nebulous coaching advice with daily frequency and great conviction, ‘C’mon, Stal, HIT the ball!’”

Stal went on to describe how he chased balls “relentlessly until my more talented opponents either prevailed or ran out of patience and energy. … Mr. Clements informally awarded us … with titles, mine being the ‘Biting Dog Award.’ As he explained, ‘Stal, you’re that annoying little dog that bites onto your ankle and never lets go.’ This is one of the awards of which I’m most proud. Try hard, never give up and do what works for you.”

Despite his busy life in school, Bob filled much time furthering his own education, and continually learning, including pioneering computer use and becoming the school’s first Computer Coordinator.

Bob’s education and training included the Harvard Academic Year Institute, followed by an Ed.M. from Harvard (1959), a Certificate of Advanced Study in computers from Wesleyan University (1964), a Klingenstein grant, and several National Science Foundation grants for further study. And he was continually and generously offering courses outside Exeter in Advanced Placement Calculus and Probability.

Bob was a terrific self-taught golfer who was head varsity golf coach for many years. In the ’70s, he helped create the end-of-year Faculty Golf Tournament, a tradition that lasted for many years past his retirement. It was open to all faculty and staff, and he designed it so that everyone felt invited, whether a raw beginner or an accomplished golfer. There was always a nice party afterward that included many humorous and entertaining awards. Bob won the championship many times, and his close friend and math colleague Spruill Kilgore won the women’s title.

Tony Greene taught with Bob for only one year; however, he wrote: “When he retired, I remember him saying that he wanted time to pursue three passionate interests: birding, golf and bridge. For at least 25 years after his retirement, Bob was a regular participant in national, regional and sectional duplicate bridge tournaments. He reached the level of Gold Life Master and once won the New Hampshire state pairs championship. … I took Bob’s probability course at the Exeter Math Conference. This was a field of mathematics he put to significant use both at the bridge table, and on his occasional visits to casinos.” As Kurtz said, he was even “rumored among the students to be unwelcome in Las Vegas and Monte Carlo because of [his] penchant for breaking the bank.”

Bob’s passion for birding and traveling was very well known. His daughter Joan said that he shared these “lifelong loves” with his brother, James, “who was a world-renowned ornithologist.” Several of Bob’s photographs are still hanging in the department room. Dick Brown reported, “On one birding trip with Jim, the two crashed their small plane in the treetops of the jungle. Miraculously they were not hurt. Bob also loved to ski. Four faculty members arranged our winter schedules so we did not have late-morning class, allowing us to drive 1.25 hours to Gunstock for two hours of skiing.”

Though Bob retired in 1990, he leapt at the chance to return to Exeter more than a decade later as a member of the Summer School faculty. Bob embraced his mentoring responsibilities with care, dedication and a wonderfully wry sense of humor. Bergofsky, director of the Exeter Mathematics Institute at the time, recalls Bob enthusiastically being a member of a team of Exeter math teachers working with the Phoenix Public School teachers in the late 1990s. Bob, then in his 70s, taught his favorite probability course and was a big hit with the new generation of teachers half his age.

Visiting Bob in the community where he and Louise were living at the time, Joyce Kemp was not surprised to see Bob’s photographs of birds and travel locations adorning the hallways, and Bob preparing to give a talk that week to the residents. Always teaching, always entertaining, always learning.

Bob and Louise raised two daughters, Eleanor ’71 and Joan ’75, through Exeter and college. He passed away on October 21, 2023.