Elizabeth Houze Clarke '01 ( Art History)

Elizabeth Houze Clarke is the Associate director, Stewardship and Donor Relations, Office of Institutional Advancement at The Hun School of Princeton, New Jersey.  Elizabeth received her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts (Art & Art History) from St Lawrence University in 2001.

Alumni Biography

I have many fond memories of my time at St. Lawrence. I will always remember my art history classes and the outstanding faculty, including Dr. Dorothy Limouze and the late Dr. Elizabeth Kahn, who instilled a passion for the arts. After graduation for many years, I still wrote Dr. Limouze and kept her up to date on my career path and happenings in the art world. I enjoyed keeping in touch and letting her know about my experiences outside the classroom.

After graduation, I accepted a job in the European Furniture & Decorative Arts department at Christie’s auction house in New York. My career path led to similar work at Sotheby’s, a return trip to Christie’s as well as a brief stint as a manager of an art conservation studio. I worked there in a variety of roles in the auction world, but namely in the area of Trusts & Estates. Working in this area gave me close proximity to some of the world’s best private art collections. At Sotheby’s I had the privilege of working on a number of notable private collections, including the Property from the Estate of Laurance Rockefeller, Property from Kennedy Family Homes, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords and Property from the Estate of Paul Peralta-Ramos.  I immensely enjoyed my work in this area.

In 2009, shortly after the birth of my son, I relocated from New York to Princeton, NJ. My interests became more child-centric and family focused, therefore I shifted gears from the arts to education. I started out as a volunteer typing teacher training albums, became a teacher and then administrator at the local Montessori School. While I will always cherish my years in New York, my passion for working with children, together with a desire to work in the non-profit sector, began to grow. I now work in Development for the Hun School of Princeton, a K-12 co-educational independent school in Princeton, NJ. My role of Associate Director for Stewardship and Donor Relations is quite fulfilling as I enjoy working with alumni, parents and faculty to help inspire philanthropic giving to our School.

My advice to current students is that you never know where your career or life will take you, but you’ll always have those strong bonds, coaches and mentors from your days at St. Lawrence, so don’t take them for granted and cherish them! They will serve you in some capacity no matter where your path leads you.