Senator Mark Warner is a lawyer by training, but he has always been drawn to public service. The first member of his family to graduate from college, he majored in political science at The George Washington University then headed to Harvard where he received his law degree. After initial forays into the energy and real estate industries, he entered the nascent cellular telephone industry in the early 1980s. It was a time of unbridled opportunity, and his talent and personality were a perfect match for a new industry in need of skilled negotiation, confident diplomacy, and strategic thinking.
Mark initially brokered cellular deals for applicants and carriers in an era of rapidly shifting rules as the FCC struggled with how to handle the licensing process efficiently. He then raised money for several cellular ventures, an endeavor that quickly gained momentum as the FCC began opening additional license areas.
In 1989, he founded Columbia Capital, a venture capital firm which bought and sold ownership of cellular markets. After serving for several years as the Managing Director of Columbia Capital, he co-founded FleetCall, the company that would become Nextel and increase competition in the wireless industry. He went on to make early investments in hundreds of start-up technology companies that have created tens of thousands of private sector jobs.
He remained an active force in the industry until he was elected Governor of Virginia in 2002. As Governor he worked in a bipartisan way to turn record budget deficits into a surplus and recruit 135,000 jobs to the state, during which time Virginia was consistently recognized as the nation’s “best-managed state” and “best state for business.”
Elected to the U.S. Senate from Virginia in 2008, Mark was sworn into office in early 2009. After four years in the Senate, he has established himself as a national leader in efforts to find bipartisan consensus to improve government efficiency and to create balanced solutions to reduce the federal deficit. He has also been a champion for armed services members and federal employees, as well as a leader in Congress in efforts to promote private-sector innovation.
Mark and his wife Lisa Collis have three daughters. They live in Alexandria, Virginia. He was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2013.