Mark Pietrowski Jr. graduated from Kishwaukee College with an associate’s degree, and Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication. He is currently working on his doctorate in Educational Leadership. He was first elected to public office in 2009 as a Kishwaukee College Board Trustee and resigned in 2012 when he was elected to serve as a DeKalb County Board member for District 3. In December of 2014 he was unanimously selected by DeKalb County Board members to serve as the new Chairman and President of the DeKalb County Forest Preserve. In 2016 he was unanimously selected again to serve a second term as county board chairman and forest preserve president with a 12-Republican and 12-Democrat makeup of the board. Mark has served the community running charity toy drives, being a past-president of DeKalb Kiwanis, Vice-President of Egyptian Theatre board and Secretary of the DeKalb County Convention and Visitor Bureau. Currently, he is a member of the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. Mark also runs a small business with his wife. He is the current Director for Continuing and Professional Education at Northern Illinois University. He was recently awarded the 2017 SPS Presidential Award for Excellence at NIU.