The first woman to be professionally employed as an electrical engineer in the United States, Clarke also became the first female professor of electrical engineering in the country. She was likewise the first woman to deliver a paper at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
Clarke specialized in electrical power system analysis and is credited with laying the foundation for the smart grid, helping the electric grid of the future grow, remain stable, and reliable. She was the first person to use an analyzer to obtain data about power networks, a step the U.S. Department of Energy called "the first step toward smart grid technology," noting that she could be called the smart grid's "Founding Mother."
Her textbook, "Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems," served as the standard reference for power engineers for decades.
