The Honorable Mark Kirk, former U.S. Senator from Illinois, is an advisor to accentedge. Senator Kirk served as United States Senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017. Before serving in the Senate, he was the U.S. Congressman representing Illinois’ 10th Congressional District, covering the north suburbs of Chicago.

Kirk also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve, from 1989–2013, where he worked as an intelligence officer and later served in noncombat roles in air campaigns in Yugoslavia and Iraq. He retired with the rank of commander. Kirk attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City before graduating cum laude from Cornell University (B.A., 1981). 

He then earned a master’s degree (1982) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, during which time he was an assistant to a member of the House of Commons. After graduating, Kirk remained in London for a year, teaching at a private school. He later studied law at Georgetown University (Juris Doctor degree, 1992). Since his time in the senate, Kirk has joined the advisory board of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and sits on the Federal Advisory Board at HyTrust, Inc.