Biography

Mark Katsouros received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP), completed post-graduate studies in electrical engineering and telecommunications at UMCP, and advanced Computer and Information Science at University of Maryland Global Campus, and worked at UMCP in various IT development, research, and leadership capacities for over 20 years.  He next served in a five-year stint as the Director of Telecommunication & Network Services for The University of Iowa, and then in a 10-year stint as the Director of Network Planning, Service Design, and Voice & Video for The Pennsylvania State University.  Mark is now the Senior Director of IT Engineering & Operations for Duquesne University, and is responsible for the institution’s underpinning IT infrastructure, as well as managed endpoints and deskside support, including: Data Centers (cloud and on-premise), Network & Telecom Services, Science DMZ (research), Secure Integrated Infrastructure (DDI, IAM, etc), System Administration, Storage Systems and Recovery, Endpoint Engineering (enterprise configuration and mobility management), and Technical Services (endpoint operations/support).  Additionally, he is the program sponsor of Duquesne's IT/Enterprise Service Management processes, roles, artifacts, and overall portfolio.  Previously, he provided leadership to Duquesne’s IT Support Services group and was responsible for Central IT's directly-customer-facing/high-touch services, from the Service Management Office and Service Desk to the physical Computer Labs (Learning Labs and Collaboration Commons) and not-for-profit Computer Store.  Mark's focus remains on helping the Duquesne community—students, faculty, and staff—have the best experience possible in using technology and IT services specifically.  This includes IT "first-aid," follow-up, feedback loops, innovative solutions, white-glove support when and where needed, and ensuring that our IT underpinnings are stable and resilient.

Mark’s extremely diverse background includes database systems, large-scale software design and development, networking, telecommunications, computer-telephony integration, interactive voice response and speaker-independent speech recognition, voice over IP, unified communications, emergency communications management, ITIL/ITSM/ESM/USM, project management, strategic planning, customer support (including white-glove), and broad IT leadership.  In addition to winning UMCP's prestigious Graduate Studies and Research "Inventor of the Year" Award, he has also licensed various software applications, which he designed and developed, to both Avaya Communications and Cabletron Systems.  Mark was also selected by the (Bill) Clinton Administration to design, develop, and implement public opinion polling software for the White House, which was utilized during President Clinton's first State of the Union Address and beyond.

Finally, Mark is a regular speaker at various information technology conferences, and has served as Chief Technology Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer for a Maryland dot-com startup specializing in patent-pending search technology that promised to improve the results of search requests in library, database, intranet, and Internet searches through complex, rules-based, phonetic transcription.  He was recently involved in a Pennsylvania dot-com startup focusing on community development, commerce, and social responsibility, and now moonlights as owner/operator of an IT consultancy in Central PA, providing both commercial and residential IT consulting services.  Mark is a competitive distance runner, songwriter and hack musician, and always hungry for victory--for himself, his team, his institution, and his customers--and he'll run through walls to achieve it.