Mark Naufel

Mark Naufel is the President of the University of Silicon Valley, where he is leading the institution’s transformation into the world’s first polymathic university—uniting technical and creative disciplines to prepare learners for a rapidly changing world.

An innovator, professor of practice, and tech entrepreneur, Naufel previously founded Luminosity Lab at Arizona State University—an interdisciplinary innovation lab that engages more than 100 students annually across locations in Arizona, Tennessee, Boston, and Ghana. Through Luminosity, he has served as principal investigator on R&D initiatives for many of the world’s leading companies and institutions.

Naufel holds master’s degrees in Systems Engineering and Business Data Analytics, and a Ph.D. in Human Systems Engineering from Arizona State University. During graduate school, he was appointed by the Governor of Arizona to the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body for Arizona’s public universities.

As an entrepreneur, he has founded and operated ventures in design, software, and data strategy, including his latest company, Axio— is an AI-powered learning companion designed to accelerate human learning and growth.