Northwestern Names Executive Director of Career Services

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University has appointed Mark Presnell executive director of University Career Services.

Presnell will oversee career development and support to both undergraduate and graduate students along with alumni on campus. He also will contribute to improvements within the division of student affairs as a member of the student affairs leadership team.

Presnell will join Northwestern Oct. 1 from Johns Hopkins University, where he served as director of the career center. There he significantly improved student satisfaction, increasing workshop attendance and successfully redesigning an office environment devoted to one-on-one counseling and advising. He also developed individual marketing plans specific to the liberal arts, sciences and engineering disciplines, which helped students to prepare more fully for their careers.

Known for the creation and launch of a successful employment engagement strategy, Presnell’s dedication to the profession yielded a significant increase over a six-year period regarding campus-based interviews, internships and the promotion of services specific to alumni career development.

Prior to his tenure at Johns Hopkins, he served as senior associate director for the career center at the University of Rochester in New York. He is a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers. 

Presnell earned his Doctor of Philosophy in counseling psychology from the University of Kansas, and he received his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Purdue University.