Mark Budd Hometown: Osage, IA Current Home: Washington, DC Major: Economics Additional Education: IIT, MS Engineering; University of Chicago, MBA Email: jmarkbudd@gmail.com
When I graduated from Concordia, I had not settled on a career, but I did know my first job was going to be with the military—that was decided by my draft board when I asked for permission to spend the summer following my junior year travelling throughout Europe. The tradeoff was well worth it since I visited 24 countries. After graduation, I joined the Navy and spent my active duty in the medical corps at a naval air station near Chicago, Illinois. After the military, I worked at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, for several years and continued my education on a part time basis. Five years of full time work and part time school was a struggle, but my graduate programs prepared me for an enjoyable and successful 30 year career in health care information systems. I met my wife, Gita, while we were both working at Lutheran General Hospital. We were married in April 1979 and have spent a wonderful 38 years together. We both moved from Lutheran General into consulting jobs—Gita to a health care strategic planning firm and me to information systems consulting. I spent the last 25 years of my career working for Computer Sciences Corporation. This work involved restructuring ineffective health care information systems departments, managing large data warehouse and system installations, and serving in interim chief information officer roles. My clients included hospitals, health systems, Blue Cross and NIH. Gita’s career moves resulted in us relocating every 6-9 years—going from Park Ridge, Illinois, to downtown Chicago; Kalamazoo, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri, and now Washington, D.C. The best part of moving is seeing new places, meeting new people and sorting through belongings to get rid of unneeded items before each move. We also both became experts at business travel and used our significant flight and hotel points for trips to Egypt, Morocco, Australia, New Zealand, China, etc. We are retired from real jobs, but continue to keep very busy—Gita with Northwestern University alumni activities and Mark as a member of our condominium board, volunteer work, bike rides and a struggle to develop a respectable golf game. Family has also been an important part of our lives. While we do not have children, we have participated in the growth of our nine nieces and nephews. Over the last 20+ years, we have enjoyed the company of a number of cats. We currently have two adorable Ragdolls. Concordia was an important learning and growing experience for me as well as the source of friendships that have lasted over 50 years. When you get to Washington, D.C. let us know!
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