Mark is a Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He is a faculty affiliate of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, where he served as Director from 2001 to 2006. Mark is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and is a Society for Social Work and Research Fellow. He received the 2010 Peter W. Forsythe Award for leadership in public child welfare from the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators and is currently a member of the Committee on Improving the Health, Safety, and Well-Being of Young Adults of the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. His fields of interest include child welfare policy and services, the connection between child welfare services and other institutions serving families living in poverty, the transition to adulthood for vulnerable populations, and the professionalization of social work. Before moving into academia, Mark worked in various capacities providing group home care to abused and neglected adolescents in California. He has served as a consultant to the federal government, state departments of social services, local public and private child welfare agencies, and the philanthropic community. Mark received his PhD, MSW and BA from the University of California at Berkeley. He also received an MA in Clinical Psychology from the John F. Kennedy University.