Rodney Clark, a major in the U.S. Army with more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, has been appointed chief of the Wichita State University Police Department.

Clark, assistant professor of military science for the U.S. Army ROTC program at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is retiring from the Army to lead the UPD. His anticipated start date is July 2.

Clark’s long career of law enforcement and public safety experience positions him for this role.

He served as a military police commander at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, leading a unit of 200 military police officers in providing law enforcement to a community of more than 30,000 people.

As provost marshal and director of emergency services for the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey in South Korea, Clark led 175 military police officers in patrols operations and other activities in the northern third of South Korea.

Clark earned his Master of Arts in criminal justice at American Military University (Charlestown, West Virginia); his Bachelor of Science in applied arts and sciences from Texas State University; and his Associate of Applied Science in criminal justice from Alvin Community College.

“I look forward to learning and growing as I continue to serve the students, faculty and administration of Wichita State University,” he says. “To my fellow law enforcement officers and members of the WSU Police Department, I look forward to learning from you and your combined years of experience at the university. I am honored to have been chosen for this position and am excited to get there and get started.”

We are excited for Rodney to join Wichita State,” says Werner Golling, vice president for finance and administration. “He brings a wealth of experience and significant leadership skills to the position. Importantly, he resonates strongly with the mission and values of WSU and of our police department.

Clark will take over from Robert Hinshaw who has served as interim chief of the WSU Police Department since October 2017.

“We’re very grateful to Bob Hinshaw for his leadership and service to WSU’s Police Department during this time of transition,” Golling says.

The search committee for the chief position included representatives from department of criminal justice/faulty, student affairs, SGA, USS and UP senates, physical plant, diversity and inclusion, strategic communications, finance and administration, general counsel and human resources.

Additionally, the finalists for the position met with members of the law enforcement community that included WSU Police Department, Wichita Police Department, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, KS CPOST and Kansas Enforcement Training Center.

The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling about 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.