Mark Hanna College Counselor
mark@markhanna.com
Mark retired from a long successful career in retail (Costco General Manager at locations across the country) in 1999 and moved to Tucson, where his wife of 44 years, Lynda, hails from. Determined to begin a new career in education, he enrolled at Pima Community College where he received his associate’s degree in education and served as an officer with the East Campus Student Government. He went on to the University of Arizona, receiving a bachelor’s degree in education, Summa Cum Laude, in 2004 and a master’s degree in higher education in 2008. He served as an officer in the Future Teachers Club and vice president of Phi Lambda Theta, a teacher’s honorary, while at the University.
He began work as a teacher’s aide in a class for “at risk” students at Catalina High School (a low income, inner city school) in 2004 before becoming the school’s college counselor from 2006 to 2014. During that time Catalina’s post-secondary attendance went from less than 60% to over 80%. Catalina students earned in excess of $25 million dollars in scholarships. After retiring from this position he served as an elected member of the Pima Community College Governing Board from 2014 to 2020. Mark currently serves as Chair of the the Metropolitan Education Commission and as a member of the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission. He has continued to counsel students of all academic and family income levels on being prepared for, applying to, and successfully funding their college aspirations.
Mark was awarded the Metropolitan Education Commission’s “Crystal Apple Award” in 2011 and the Century Link/Arizona Diamondbacks “All Star Teacher Award” in 2013. He has a long history of community service including serving as president of the Pima Community College Alumni Association, the Pima Community College Foundation and chair of the University of Arizona Hillel Board Of Directors.