Andy Clark

Assistant Vice Chancellor, Government Relations

Picture of USM Assistant Vice Chancellor, Government Relations Andy Clark

Andy Clark serves as the assistant vice chancellor for government relations for the 12-campus University System of Maryland (USM) working from his office in Annapolis.  He began his career with USM as director of legislative affairs in December of 2007.

Andy is a graduate of the University of Oregon and holds a B.A. in political science (Class of 1990). He began his career in government relations in 1990 as a Salem legislative aide to former Oregon State Representative (and Democratic Party of Oregon chair) Jim Edmunson. From 1991 to 1994, he served as a legislative assistant to Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio on Capitol Hill providing research and guidance on education, health care, and judicial issues. In 1994, he joined the Oregon University System as associate director for state government relations. From 1997 to 2005, he was promoted to senior associate director for federal relations and returned to Washington, DC to establish the system's first Washington, DC, office to bring more research support to Oregon's universities.

Immediately prior to his tenure with the USM, Andy was a contract lobbyist for non-profit trade and educational associations including the Oregon Association of Realtors®, the Oregon Chalkboard Project, Chemeketa Community College and the Oregon Garden.

Andy served on the executive team of Council of Governmental Affairs (CGA) of the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU). The CGA is composed of representatives designated by the presidents and chancellors of each of the APLU institutions. They are the principal points of contact between their institutions and their congressional delegations as well as federal agencies.

He is currently the 2020 Chair of the Higher Education Government Relations Conference (HEGRC). The HEGRC, an advisory council designed for government relations professionals from colleges, universities, and state systems who are interested in bolstering their skills, connecting with colleagues, and staying abreast of state and federal trends in postsecondary education. The HERGC is a collaboration between the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU).  

Andy resides in Fort Washington, MD with his wife, Liz (LaPolt) Clark, and their son, Cole.