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Ronald Orville Clarke (1928-2001) was born in Medford, Oregon and grew up in southern Oregon and Corvallis. He did his undergraduate studies at Oregon State University and earned a Bachelor of Divinity in 1953 from Yale University Divinity School. He received a doctorate degree in Theology from the Pacific School of Religion at Berkeley in 1964. He was a Professor of Religious Studies at Oregon State University for over 30 years focusing on Values in Human Ecology, Religion and Society and Religion and Society during the last years of his tenure. Clarke retired in June 1993 as an emeritus professor of religious studies.

In 1983 he received a grant from the Oregon Committee for the Humanities to study the teachings of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. His study focused on the philosophical and sociological aspects of the sect in contrast to the sensational treatment being written about it in the popular press and media. He urged the Oregon public to exercise tolerance and civility towards the sect and was accused by some of being an apologist for the group. He summarized his findings in a lengthy report to the OCH.