Mark Wagner, PhD  a/k/a  “Dr. Mark” is an educator and writer who has accomplishments in a number of fields, including poetry, music and athletics.  Mark often publishes essays regarding personal history, music, food and the history of golf.  His current project is Native Links: The Surprising History of our First People in Golf, a chronology of the colorful and inspiring indigenous golfers who took up the game we all love. The book, due out this year with Back Nine Press (www.back9press.com) will include a glossary of the 55 Native-owned courses. One constant through Mark’s life as a writer and educator has been his love of golf history and course architecture. His essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, Golf Course Architecture, Northeast Golf, The Worcester Telegram and Gazette, and numerous other publications. 

Mark’s essay on Frank Dufina (Chippewa) —  “Where It’s Never Not Beautiful” — recently was named Runner Up in the 2023 Coyne Prize, awarded to “the most exciting golf writers and creators.” https://www.coyneprize.org 

Mark is an recreational golfer and lifelong athlete. He had a stand out career in ‘the beautiful game’ — soccer and received a number of recognitions as a forward playing for St. Joseph’s Regional (Montvale, N.J.) He went on to play and coach for many years at the college level. 

In addition to spoken word and poetry performances at the Gloucester Stage Company and other venues, he received the Ex Libris Poetry Prize. Mark has two poetry books, Home Building (Finishing Line Press, 2011) is Wagner’s second book of poetry. In his first, A Cabin in a Field (Mellen, 2001), he wrote about a challenging project in which he, his wife and son, cleared and made a home in a barn on the last bit of a once large dairy farm in south central Massachusetts. Wagner also has published a work of philosophy, The Immediate Field (Verlag, 2010) and Silkheads: Life as Art with Alopecia (Homestead, 1997) a compilation of essays and photographs about people living with alopecia, which Hippocrates called ‘the disease of the fox.’ 

As the founding director of the Binienda Center for Civic Engagement at Worcester State University, Mark’s academic work has focused on leadership development and meaningful community engagement. The Center received many civic engagement awards and recognitions including the Carnegie Designation in Community Engagement and a national Presidential Award for Community Engagement.