The College of Arts and Sciences laments the passing of Dr. Mark S. Hoyert on June 20, 2026. Mark was an Indiana University Northwest professor of psychology and the longest-serving dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS).
After earning his Ph.D. at Emory University in experimental psychology, Mark came to IU Northwest in 1988. He rose through the tenure-track ranks and served as chair of the psychology department for seven years. He then helped lead the college through the campus flood of 2008 as an interim dean, then became the official dean in 2009, serving without pause until 2025. His tenure brought much valued stability to the college during its peaks and valleys.
Mark was well known for his excellent teaching, earning many awards and accolades, including the Founder’s Day Award in 2005, four Trustees’ Teaching Awards, the Fredric Bachman Leiber Memorial Award in 2006, and the P.A. Mack Award in 2019 for his distinguished service and leadership in teaching.
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As a faculty member in psychology, he was especially known for his courses on drugs and the nervous system, learning and statistics.
He was a relentless champion for all students in the college, developing numerous efforts to promote their success and shaping the culture of teaching in COAS, principles that remain to this day.
His passion for helping students informed his leadership as he made underserved students a priority through his work on two transformative U.S. Department of Education grants for the campus: INVEST and TRIUNFOS. He also spearheaded efforts to help the campus earn the Hispanic Serving Institution designation.
Mark’s innovative Pedagogical Innovation Groups (PIGs) were also one of his most enduring projects. In 2024, Excelencia in Education recognized PIGs as an Example of Excelencia, a national honor that he accepted at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
He was also a vital contributor to the ongoing efforts for the campus to attain the Seal of Excelencia for service to Latine students.
With his associate deans, college faculty and staff, he worked to allow “double-dipping” of program requirements to hasten the time to graduation, and he instituted the First Year Seminar courses and block scheduling for incoming freshmen. He was instrumental in creating professional advisors positions across all colleges on the campus.
Mark’s generous and philanthropic spirit to IU Northwest was reflected by his deep commitment to students, teaching and the field of psychology. Through his philanthropy, he supported the Mark S. Hoyert Psychology Department Scholarship, helping create opportunities for psychology students at IU Northwest. He also established the William James Psychology Department Scholarship in honor of one of psychology and behaviorism’s founding fathers, William James. His giving also strengthened student opportunity through the Cynthia D. O’Dell Psychology Department Scholarship, named for his wife, which supports psychology students and reflects a commitment to access, diversity and student success.
Most of us will remember him as a generous colleague and mentor, but also for his poems and songs he shared at meetings and events, his humor, his stories, his woodworking skills, and his love of the Grateful Dead. I realize now I owed him a “Grateful Dean” tie-dye shirt. He also enjoyed gardening, cooking, cross-country skiing and hiking, often seeking out national park trails wherever he would attend conferences or on family vacations.
Mark was dedicated to his children Matthew and Shelby and he enjoyed learning about his colleagues’ children, their studies and their lives. He and his wife, Cynthia, were preparing for a return to the faculty ranks after many years of administrative service.
By: Jonathyne Briggs, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
