INTERNATIONAL, (LIBERDADETL.com) — With deep sorrow, VIA announced that its founder, Dwight Clark, passed away peacefully in Palo Alto on February 22, 2026, at the age of 92.
Clark was widely known as a humble and reflective individual, yet also a visionary entrepreneur whose ideas were ahead of his time.
He established VIA in 1963, during a period when international exchange was far less common than it is today.
That year, he led a group of first-year students from Stanford University to volunteer in Hong Kong. His encouragement to them centered on a question both simple and profound: “What kind of person do I want to become?”
This guiding question became the philosophical foundation of VIA. Clark believed that crossing borders was not merely about travel, but about cultivating empathy, self-awareness, and a sense of responsibility.
The organization’s mission—to bring people across the Pacific to foster cross-cultural understanding while reflecting on personal purpose—remains rooted in that original conviction.
Over the decades, VIA grew from a single volunteer initiative into a global community shaped by Clark’s enduring vision.
Participants were not only immersed in new cultural contexts but were challenged to examine their values and aspirations.
Many alumni describe these experiences as transformative, influencing both their professional paths and personal outlook.
Those who worked closely with Clark often recall his warm, quietly charismatic presence and his unwavering belief in the power of cross-cultural learning.
In 1991, one future leader of VIA first encountered him through the American Language and Culture (ALC) program at Stanford, joining as a college student from Japan.
What began as admiration for Clark’s leadership evolved into mentorship and, eventually, stewardship.
Serving VIA for the past two decades—and now helping to lead the organization Clark founded—has been described as a profound honor.
At the time of this announcement, VIA representatives were in Hong Kong conducting program activities—the very city where Clark launched the organization’s first volunteer initiative in 1963.
The symbolic return to VIA’s birthplace underscores the continuity of his legacy. What started with one group of students and one individual’s conviction has expanded into a worldwide network of culturally engaged leaders acting as bridges between societies.
Plans to commemorate Clark’s life and legacy will be shared with the VIA community in due course.
In the meantime, members and alumni are invited to reflect on and share their memories of a man whose vision reshaped countless lives.
Though Dwight Clark has passed, his founding question—and the spirit behind it—continues to resonate.
For generations to come, his ideals of empathy, purpose, and cross-cultural understanding will remain central to the mission he began more than six decades ago.
