Mark J. Firley ’79

    Mark arrived on campus from Freeland, Pa., landing at Princeton Inn College (now Forbes), which remained his home base the next four years. Freshman year, he roomed with Carl Britton, who became a lifelong friend. 

Carl describes Mark as one of the smartest people he ever met and relates that, by the time they left Princeton, he and Mark considered themselves brothers.

Though he was a politics major, Mark’s true calling was technology, and he became a largely self-taught expert at the University’s IBM 360 mainframe computer. He was instrumental in getting computer terminals installed at Princeton Inn linked directly to the mainframe, thereby avoiding a hike to the distant E-Quad.

After graduation, Mark’s computer skills led to jobs at Combustion Engineering and then at IBM in Gaithersburg, Md., where he worked for 40 years, rising to the position of information technology architect/projects manager. While at IBM, he earned a master’s degree in technical management from Johns Hopkins.

Away from work, Mark was devoted to his Tamaskan dog, Kona, and formed friendships with other Tamaskan enthusiasts.

After retiring from IBM, Mark suffered several heart attacks before succumbing to congestive heart failure March 2, 2023, in Falls Church, Va.