Dr. Mark Schmidt is the Associate Vice Chancellor of Partnerships for North Carolina State University. In his role, he is responsible for NC State’s strategy for engaging with corporate, government, and nonprofit partners including the 75 partnerships on Centennial Campus.

Prior to joining NC State, Mark was the Associate Director of Global University Relations for John Deere culminating a 22-year career at Deere. In this role, he was responsible for directing the global university relations strategy as well as a diverse range of external public and private stakeholder relationships and partnerships. As a recognized thought leader, he also provided internal and external technical leadership on science and technology policy as well as sustainability.

Mark holds over twelve United States and international design and utility patents relating to intelligent and autonomous vehicles and machine systems. Schmidt is the current chair of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and a past-chair of UIDP. He is a co-founder and President of the Landscape Stewardship Institute, a supporting nonprofit organization within the University of North Carolina System. He has served as a board director for several nonprofit organizations, professional societies, and advisory boards. Mark serves as an advisory panelist for the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) and National Science Foundation (NSF) review panelist. He has been quoted and cited in multiple media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Money, Bloomberg, Fox News, U.S. News and World Report, and others.

Mark holds Bachelor of Science degrees in landscape architecture and agronomy from Purdue University, a Master of Science in agronomy from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in crop science from the University of Illinois. He is an Eagle Scout.