Mark Hanlon ’18

For Mark Hanlon, the understanding that each area of academic study is integrated with the next, coupled with personal formation, lead him to discover his vocation to cure personalis—care for the whole person.

Mark says, “The synthesis of my biology, psychology, and philosophy classes at Franciscan University gave me a complete picture of the human person and helped me understand how the dimensions of man are integrated.”

Inspired by his father, a primary care physician, Mark has begun pursuing a career in medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Mark, who won the 2018 John R. Korzi Award in Clinical Psychology, sees great value in a liberal arts education preparation for medical school.

“Higher education,” he says, “is designed to train students to think about their lives as a connected whole in which they discover a personal vocation that calls for their best effort.”

At Franciscan, he saw personal vocation being lived out in his organic chemistry professor, Dr. Jeff Rohde.

Organic chemistry has a reputation as one of the most challenging classes at Franciscan, but Mark, who minored in biology, says it was one of his favorites.

Dr. Rohde “was a true gift,” Mark says. “He walked with us every step of the way. He was able to explain even the most complicated concepts in ways we could understand. Dr. Rohde inspired me to grow academically and put my gifts at the service of Christ and His church.

“If students tap into the immense source of wisdom and knowledge that is our faculty at Franciscan, they will grow more than they ever could have expected.”