Una S. T-Clarke

Una S. T-Clarke, B.S., M.S., C.D., was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio as a member of the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York in June 2015. She was reappointed by the Mayor in 2018 to a term that ends June 2025.

Trustee Clarke was elected to the New York City Council, as its first foreign-born, as well as the first Caribbean-born woman member. She represented Brooklyn’s 40th Council District for 10 years starting in 1991, sponsoring more than 300 pieces of legislation on issues including child welfare, education, health and mental health, economic development, public safety and transportation. She was an active member of the Council’s Black and Hispanic Caucus. An educator by profession, she directed millions of dollars in funding to upgrade schools in her district, rebuild parks and playgrounds, increase quality childcare programs. Trustee Clarke led many campaigns to reform immigration laws that encouraged citizenship and voter registration. She considers her greatest accomplishment as a member of the City Council the rebuilding of Kings County Hospital.

Trustee Clarke served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1992. In 1996 she was one of six New Yorkers appointed to the National Platform Committee of the Democratic Party. Trustee Clarke was appointed in 2001 by Governor George Pataki as Director of the Empire State Development Corporation for the Borough of Brooklyn. She is a member of the Diocesan Council for the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. She was named to the board of trustees for Nazareth Regional High School after her successful efforts to save the school from closure. She was appointed a Trustee of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer.

Trustee Clarke has received numerous honors and awards for outstanding service. She was the first foreign-born recipient of Columbia University’s prestigious Charles H. Revson Fellowship in 1984, the first time the fellowship was ever presented to someone over age 35. She was the first Caribbean-born woman to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2001. In 1999 she received the Commander of the Order of Distinction (C.D.) from the Government of Jamaica for distinguished service to Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals in North America.

Trustee Clarke holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Long Island University, a Master of Education degree from New York University, and has completed additional post-graduate studies at Teachers College and the School of Business at Columbia University. She received the Honorary Doctor of Letters in November 2005 from the University of Technology in Jamaica.

Ms. Clarke serves as Chair of the Board’s Committee on Student Affairs and Special Programs, and is a member of the Committee on Faculty, Staff and Administration and Executive Committee.