[1] She was notable for her work in the field of Patristics, and the teaching of ancient Christianity in US higher education.

[7] Clark's doctoral thesis was The Influence of Aristotelian Thought on Clement of Alexandria: A Study in Philosophical Transmission,[8] written under the direction of the faculty of Union Theological Seminary.

[9] In 1982, Clark was appointed a Professor of Religion at Duke University, where she subsequently worked for forty years, supervising students including Maureen Tilley and Kristi Upson-Saia.

[11] At the time of her appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences, the faculty numbered around 500; only four women held the rank of full professor.

[7] Clark was a prolific writer, authoring or editing thirteen books and over seventy articles.

Reflecting on her career, Clark observed that it was 'rather eclectic': 'I branched into byways as well as highways, stumbled into enterprises for which neither my background nor graduate school had prepared me.

[13] She has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies.

[2] Clark's critical influence is demonstrated in the two Festschriften published in her honor: the first, The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies (2005)[15] edited by Dale Martin and Patricia Cox Miller; the second edited by C. M. Chin and Caroline T. Schroeder: Melania: Early Christianity through the Life of One Family (2017).