Mark A. Bard (MSI ’06)
Those who knew alumnus Mark A. Bard will always remember him for his engaging personality and willingness to lend a hand, especially when it came to solving problems related to connecting people with technology. Mark, 26, was seriously injured on Oct. 1, 2007 when he was hit by a drunken driver while walking in Alexandria, Va. He died early Friday, Sept. 11 near his hometown in western Michigan.
At the time of the accident, he worked as an information technology policy specialist at the American Library Association office in Washington. Mark came to SI in fall 2004 and graduated in 2006 with a Master of Science in Information.
Mark was valedictorian of Fennville High School in 2001. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree from Baker College in Muskegon. He worked at bookstores both before and after coming to Ann Arbor. While a student, he also worked in SI Computing and was a graduate student research assistant on a National Science Foundation-funded project, “Computer Incident Factor Analysis and Categorization Project.”
“He made many professional friends and gained much respect as a researcher while collecting data at colleges, universities, and corporations across the country,” remembers Virginia Rezmierski, adjunct associate professor. “He also took the lead in presenting the results of that project at a national conference.”
