LC in the News - 2012

Mark Volk Installed As Lackawanna College 8th President
July 27, 2012

President Mark Volk

Mark Volk was inaugurated as Lackawanna’s eighth president at 1 p.m. today in a formal ceremony open to the entire community in the Theater on the Scranton Campus.


Inauguration speakers include Mr. Volk, Pennsylvania State Senator John Blake, Lackawanna County Commissioner Jim Wanczak and Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty.  Greetings will also be delivered by Board of Trustees Chairman Dominick DeNaples, Keystone College President Ned Boehm, Professor Barry Staples, Alumnus Theresa Scopelliti and student representative Jason Pierce.

A reception followed the ceremony in the Reception Hall on the third floor of Angeli Hall.

Mr. Volk, who is originally from Easton PA, began his tenure in 2004 at Lackawanna College as Executive Assistant to the President. During that time, he assisted the current President in the structural reorganization of college. Under the revised structure, Mr. Volk was promoted to Vice President for Planning and Operations where he oversaw all college planning and the implementation of its $2.5 mil Title III infrastructure grant. In April of 2007, he was promoted to Executive Vice President where he oversaw the daily operations of the college, as well as its planning processes. Mr. Volk also held the position of Acting President of Lackawanna College from July – November 2010.
Active in the local community, Mr. Volk is the Treasurer of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, having been appointed to the Chamber’s Executive Committee after serving as a Board member for six years. He also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Northeast Pennsylvania Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and is the Past Chair of the Leadership Lackawanna program. In 2011, Mr. Volk was recognized as Leadership Lackawanna’s Outstanding Alumni Leader of the Year, and was recognized as a Child Advocate in 2008 for his work with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Northeast PA. In 2009, he was appointed as a Commissioner on the PA State Ethics Commission where he continues to serve.

Mr. Volk earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of Scranton in 1977, a Master’s of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College in 1999, and holds a Master’s Degree in History from the University of Scranton. A doctoral candidate at Marywood University, he is in the dissertation phase of its program in Human Development with a specialization in Higher Education Administration.

A retired Army Colonel, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Field Artillery in 1977. During his 26 year Army career, he served in a variety of command and staff positions in the United States and overseas. He also trained as a Middle East/North Africa Foreign Area Officer (FAO) regional specialist studying Arabic at the Defense Language Institute. Mr. Volk is also a graduate of the Department of State Foreign Service Institute, Tunisia, where he continued his Arabic studies and traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

His most recent assignments included service as the Senior Intelligence Officer for the 3rd Infantry Division and then for two years as Commander, 103rd/101st Military Intelligence Battalion. He deployed the 101st MI to Bosnia in September 1996 where it was the intelligence support force for Task Force Eagle in Multi-National District – North. During the last 5 years of his Army career, he was assigned to the Army Staff, Pentagon, and managed two Army specialties, the FAO Program as well as the Army Strategic Plans and Policy specialist program. Additionally, he was responsible for the integration of Joint Professional Military Education Learning Objectives across the Army’s schools. Present in the Pentagon on 9/11/2001, Mr. Volk was awarded the Soldier’s Medal, the Army’s highest non-combat award for heroism for his lifesaving efforts after the 9/11 attack.

Mark and his wife, the former Lynn Favini of Scranton, reside in Benton Township, PA. They have one son, Mark Jr., who resides in Lorton, VA and are the proud grandparents of his son, Alexander.