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Mark D. Jacobsen

  • Blog
  • About
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Contact

My name is Mark Jacobsen. I am an entrepreneur, leader, and strategist in the U.S. Air Force who believes in a holistic approach to life: continually improving oneself, then one’s relationships, community, and work. I continually envision new possibilities and work to realize them. My life’s work is inspiring, building and leading transformational teams to renew organizations and communities.

I have an eclectic career defined by continual learning, invention, and leadership in pursuit of a better world. As an Air Force cargo pilot I criss-crossed the globe during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, learning about foreign policy and national security. Dissatisfied by what I found, I obtained an Olmsted scholarship to learn Arabic, lived in the Middle East for two years, and earned a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution at the University of Jordan. I went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Strategy. I founded a nonprofit that aimed to break sieges and end the weaponization of starvation in Syria. I earned a PhD in Political Science at Stanford, with the goal of understanding the collapse of states into anarchy. I founded and led an agile software development team at the Defense Innovation Unit aimed at stopping the use of drones for terrorism. I have written a novel, various short stories, and numerous articles to help think through the changing dynamics of warfare. I have also written numerous software applications to make my organizations more effective. I am currently a Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the Air Force’s School of Advanced Air & Space Studies.

As for my personal life, I adore my three children. I rock climb in order to stay strong, continually expand my limits, and overcome fear. I read. I write. I develop software. I love to learn, create, and lead.

A few of my core beliefs:

  • A well-lived life should be holistic—motivated by core values that span family, work, and personal life.
  • The Stoics were on to something; how we interpret and respond to events is perhaps even more important than the events themselves.
  • Innovation for its own sake is empty; innovation should be motivated by values, meaning, and a higher purpose.
  • One can live a happy, fulfilling life while being part of a large organization. This requires taking responsibility to co-create the lives we want.
  • This is the best time to be alive but the modern world is sick; we are alienated from ourselves, from others, from nature, and from meaning.
  • If there is hope for our country and world, it will be found in renewing local communities and institutions.

Download my resume.

[Future] innovation will come from people who are able to link beauty to engineering, humanity to technology, and poetry to processors. In other words, it will come from... creators who can flourish where the arts intersect with the sciences, and who have a rebellious sense of wonder that opens them to the beauty of both.

Walter Isaacson

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