As Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Mark Ankeny doesn’t have a lot of free
time. When he does have free time, Ankeny prefers to spend it with his family for their weekly Sunday festivities where his two daughters and their children spend the evening with Ankeny and his wife on their property.
Ankeny and his wife have ten
rural acres on which Ankeny spends a lot of his time upkeeping the property. Ankeny and his wife have a horse and a male llama named Dolly.
Ankeny wasn’t always the Vice President of Enrollment Management. After leaving college with a degree in psychology, Ankeny was a counselor for a few years before deciding to become an elementary school teacher to be able to follow his wife wherever
her education took her.
After working as an elementary
teacher for 10 years, Ankeny moved on to higher education where he worked at George Fox University teaching mostly
adult students for 18 years.
Ankeny started working at Pacific
University in 2006 as zdean of Arts and Sciences.
Ankeny’s daily life centers around meetings and the numerous projects that he is involved in.
Last year, Ankeny helped design Cascade Hall and the renovations of the University Center which has involved “lots of meetings, dialogue and putting the pieces together,” said Ankeny.
Ankeny was also involved in leading the initiative to create the School of Communication and Science Disorders, starting Pacific University’s
Master’s degree in the Speech Pathology and the minor in Communications and Science Disorders.
“Being able to see Cascade Hall come to fruition and to see the UC shape out the way that we had hoped in relation to physical space was rewarding,”
said Ankeny. Ankeny
worked closely
with students and architects alike to be able to put together the new Washburne Hall and Cascade Hall.
“One of the most rewarding things for me as dean was to shake the hands of graduates and put their hoods over them when they have finished their master’s degree at graduation,” said Ankeny.
Over the years, Ankeny has been able to travel quite a bit. Although his travels are mostly for business, he and his wife have travelled to France, China and Russia.
Ankeny has taken students on trips to Belize and Tanzania.
Within the next few years, Ankeny and his wife plan on returning to Burundi, Central Africa.
Ankeny has a familial connection with the Central African area and is excited to return.
Due to Ankeny’s active involvement with students, he has a bit of advice for those who are current undergraduates.
“I would say take advantage of this unique opportunity in your life,” said Ankeny.
“This interim period of real strong adult development is a unique opportunity and so take advantage of it to its fullest and all of the different choices one can make with academics and developing good friendships with your peers.”
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