Mark Russell - Homecoming Distinguished Service Award

If dedication to SUU alumni and the University alone were enough cause for selection for the Distinguished Service Award of the association, perhaps no individual’s qualifications would surpass those of Mark Russell. However, when such attributes are coupled with a successful career leading others to achieve their financial goals and secure their future, Mark’s selection is truly, as they say, a no-brainer.

He was happily living in Sandy, Utah, some two decades after his 1974 graduation, when asked to be part of a new University program to help recruit students. Mark soon found himself among the school’s first admissions advisers, enthusiastically sponsoring open houses for potential students. Several years later, the University instituted the Alumni Chapters program and Mark eagerly led the first such organization in the Salt Lake Valley. His good works were recognized along with his other accomplishments by his selection as the Young Alumnus of the Year award in 2003. Then, in 2006, Mark became the National Alumni President for SUU, a position he held until this past year. Through it all, Mark has been one of the University’s greatest cheerleaders as well as a valued contributor to

myriad SUU causes. His service on the Board of Trustees was of particular importance as he relished taking part in virtually every major decision of the institution, including helping select two presidents and chairing the Board’s investments committee. Perhaps his favorite duty as alumni president, however, was delivering the welcome address to graduates each year and instructing them to flip their mortarboard tassels from right to left in a time-honored tradition.

Growing up in his birthplace of Salt Lake City, Mark had dreams of one day becoming a doctor. His life changed a bit at 12, when his father, who was in the aerospace industry, moved the family to New Jersey as the first stop on a continental odyssey. After his 1969 high school graduation in Rockford, Illinois, Mark thought he might attend Ricks College, but his grandfather back in Delta, Utah, encouraged him to try what was then SUSC. That, of course, proved to be pivotal in Mark’s life.

He originally expected to become an engineer like his father and took pre-engineering courses his first year in Cedar City. After serving an LDS mission in South Texas, he returned, but came to the conclusion that engineering wasn’t for him. Aided by SUU legend Harl Judd through aptitude testing, Mark learned that he was well suited for business. He soon found himself ensnared by the field under the direction of such stalwart faculty members as Gary Giles and Bob Moore, earning his degree in business administration, and enjoying distinction as the School’s outstanding student. He also served as the attorney general of the student body, with Ken Benson and Sterling Church as strong mentors to him. He thought about becoming a lawyer, was accepted to the University of Utah Law School, but instead earned an MBA from the U. His future wife, Jeri Schow, was at SUU at the same time as Mark, but they did not meet and marry until after both had completed their educations. The couple went on to have four children, each of whom attended SUU, as Mark proudly trumpets.

Meanwhile, Mark was building his career as a financial adviser. He spent 10 years with American Express and for the past 10 years has represented MetLife. Noting that he is thrilled that his clients are also his friends, he finds the field highly satisfying and claims that he has no desire to leave it for retirement any time soon. His pastimes include golf, scuba diving and travel.
Clearly, Mark Russell stands as the ideal model for distinguished service award recipients. SUU’s Alumni Association is proud to salute him.