Clark Shumway Knowlton (1919-1991) was a professor of sociology. He did extensive research on minorities (especially Hispanic Americans) and ethnic studies, immigration issues, and land-grant issues.

Clark Shumway Knowlton was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 31 December 1919 to Ezra C. Knowlton and Mary Albrea Shumway Knowlton. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina from 1939-1942. He then served in the US Army from 1942-1946, where he spent several years in Europe. He received his B.A. in Sociology from BYU in 1947 and then his M.A. in Sociology from BYU in 1948. He then studied from 1950-1951 at Escola Livre de Sociologia y Ciencias Socias, Sao Paulo Brazil, while working on his doctoral dissertation. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennesse, in 1955.

He married Ruth Marion Deyoung on 30 August 1948 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was an Associate Professor at Georgia Southern College from 1952-1958 and New Mexico Highlands University from 1958-1962. He then became a full professor at Texas Western College in 1962. In 1968 he joined the faculty of the University of Utah where he stayed for the rest of his career. While there he was the director for Center for the Study of Social Problems and the director of the Social Research Development Division, American West Center. He also served in the Salt Lake City community in many ways as he participated in groups including: the Central City Multipurpose Center, Committee on Desert and Arid Zones Research American Sociological Society, Rural Sociological Society, National Council on Family Relations, University Archaeology Society, the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies, and many others. Clark S. Knowlton died 20 January 1991.