Eugenie Clark Stamp

By Larry Cohen & Olga Torrey

Eugenie Clark received many honors, including the Explorers Club Medal, Franklin L. Burr Award from the National Geographic Society, and the Medal of Excellence from the American Society of Oceanographers. In addition, in 2018, a newly discovered species of dogfish shark was named Squalus clarkae in her honor.

On her 100th birthday, having her image on a US Postal Forever stamp honored Eugenie Clark. National Geographic photographer David Doubilet captured her photograph used on the stamp, and Reinhard Dirscherl's image of a lemon shark is featured. Multidisciplinary artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya created a digital collage of the two photos with a wavy blue element in the background.

Angela H. Curtis, the Postal Service's vice president of delivery operations and dedicating official, stated: "One of the goals of the Postal Service's stamp program is to celebrate people who represent the best of our nation. Eugenie Clark, the 'Shark Lady' certainly deserves this recognition. She was a brilliant scientist whose groundbreaking work added to our understanding of sharks and marine environments." 

Dr. Clark's family is thrilled to see her be recognized and honored on a stamp. Her work was groundbreaking for proving that sharks are intelligent, and she was a pioneer for female scientists, researchers, and scuba divers. Clark's daughter Aya Konstantinou said: "We are so proud of her legacy as an Asian-American woman, teacher, and scientist."

Howard Rosenstein, a pioneer in diving the Red Sea, was the leader of many expeditions involving Eugenie Clark, Anne Doubilet and David Doubilet. Keep an eye out for upcoming articles by Howard about this exciting time in history. 

Dr. Eugenie Clark and Howard Rosenstein. Photo by Olga Torrey

 

The Eugenie Clark Forever stamp is sold in panes of 20 stamps. The stamps could be purchased at the US Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps. 

 

 

Dr. Eugenie Clark and David Doubilet. Photo by Howard Rosenstein