Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas has served as a public school teacher and administrator for the past 32 years. He has spent the last 20 years at Northview High School where he serves as the principal. He has been fortunate to be involved with a number of local, regional, state and national organizations and initiatives over his career. These experiences, coupled with the length of his tenure have made him extremely knowledgeable and well-versed on a variety of K-12 and post-secondary topics.

At the national level he currently serves as the Chair of the Midwest Region for College Board. For a number of years, he also served as a board member for the Midwest Regional Education Laboratory. In addition, Mark has extensive experience working on policy and practice initiatives with Achieve, Ed Trust, ACT, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, NASSP and others.

At the state level in Michigan he was elected by his peers as the President of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. He was named by gubernatorial appointment to lead the committee which created the Michigan Merit Exam. The State School Superintendent selected him to serve as an adviser in the creation of the Michigan Merit Curriculum. In 2010 he was voted Michigan Principal of the Year. He has extensive experience working with state congressional leaders and lobbyists on a myriad of topics. He is also a highly requested speaker and presenter.

Most recently he has been focused on his work in the area of helping students become “Career Aware and Career Prepare,” by identifying and implementing employability skills and behaviors of success at Northview High School. Much of this motivation comes from the learning opportunities and professional connections he has made serving on the Workforce Board in West Michigan for the past seven years.

Mark's undergraduate degree is from Michigan State University. He has a Masters in Educational Leadership from Central Michigan University. He also has a Fellowship in Educational Policy from the Institute of Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. His wife Pam is a highly successful elementary principal in the Grand Rapids area. They have three wonderful children: Kyle has an accounting degree from Michigan State University and works for a venture capital firm in Chicago; Ethan graduates in May from Financial Markets Institute at MSU. He has accepted a position with Goldman Sachs in Chicago; and Elizabeth, who will be headed to Michigan State in the fall to study business.