Alumnus of the Year Award

Mark A. Cameli, Arts '82, Law '85
Brookfield, Wis.

When he’s not representing people and companies “facing some of their most difficult challenges ever,” Mark values assisting others with finding a path for success in the practice of law, as people have done for him. He believes he has received far more from the young professionals he has known during his nearly forty-year career than he has ever given to them, and he is grateful for their presence in his life.

Mark chairs Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren’s white-collar litigation and corporate compliance team, and says he especially enjoys his work as co-chair of the firm’s pro-bono committee; in 2016 the Milwaukee Bar Association honored him with the Pro Bono Publico Award. Before joining Reinhart, Mark was a state prosecutor and then member of the criminal and civil divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Wisconsin, where he served as Chief of the Civil Division.

He lives the call to Be The Difference, crediting Marquette for instilling in him “a sense of duty to others and a commitment to adhering to principles of high ethics.” He sits on the board of an organization that funds scholarships for Marquette law students and is a former board member for Neighborhood House, an inner-city community center. An opera enthusiast, he was past President of the Board of Directors for Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera. Mark strongly values helping young people see greater possibilities for their lives.

Mark remains connected to the Marquette community as a parishioner at Gesu, and he is proud that his daughter, Nicole, Law ’13, is a fellow Marquette lawyer.

Fun Facts:

Growing up in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Mark wanted to be a machinist like his father. “I admired his work,” he says, “and was not familiar with other occupations.” This changed when an attorney mentor entered his life as a teenager.

"My favorite place on campus has always been, and remains, St. Joan of Arc chapel."