We at United Spinal Association want to salute the life and work of Mark Odum, who died on January 15. He served as President of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA), which merged into United Spinal in 2011 and was the forerunner of our chapter network. He was also the Director of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), with which he was associated for over 45 years.
Mark had lived with quadriplegia since the age of 19. While earning a bachelor’s in communication and journalism at the University of Maryland, Mark fiercely advocated for campus accessibility, becoming a student representative for all with disabilities. Decades later, he returned to his alma mater to earn an MBA.
United Spinal Association Board of Directors member Len Zandrow recalled a long and fruitful tenure together in the leadership of NSCIA with Mark. “I first met Mark in 1994, well after he had experienced his spinal cord injury. He and I both served on the Board of Directors of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association in the late 1990s – he as that venerable organization’s President, and I as its volunteer General Counsel,” said Len. Mark joined NSCIA’s board in the 1980s, building it up as a coalition between state and local spinal cord injury groups.
Len continued, “Mark capably guided the NSCIA through a turbulent period of time. He was passionate about and fully devoted to the organization’s mission, chapter network and resource center. Despite his serious commitment to the NSCIA’s work, he never took himself too seriously. He knew how to have a good time, and he was particularly good at doing so. Always cheerful, ever smiling—he was a genuinely fun person to be around.”
He fought hard for other people with disabilities to obtain the same educational and vocational opportunities and attainment. He never lost sight of the sociopolitical factors that enabled the success of people with disabilities in the face of ignorance and discrimination and was an integral part of the movement to maintain these gains for future generations.
“Mark was my boss and my friend for almost 30 years and I never knew anyone who embraced the power of positivity like he did. Whether it was work, his health, his family, or his beloved teams, he approached it all with an open heart,” said Jessica Chaiken, Media and Information Systems Manager at NARIC. “He was a passionate advocate for inclusion, both as the director of the National Rehabilitation Information Center and in his roles with United Spinal and the various boards and advisory groups he participated in – and here, too, he brought that same positivity and optimism. He was a good man.”
NARIC has published its own remembrance of Mark, capturing how he grew NARIC over the years and his indomitable presence in the community, with links to further reading from his extensive blog.
Another dimension of Mark’s expansive interests that immediately struck everyone who encountered him was that he was a voracious sports fan. His enthusiasm for his beloved Washington, DC-area teams was as infectious as his enthusiasm for disability advancement. Len Zandrow bade his old colleague and friend farewell appropriately: “I truly hope we wind up together in ‘extra innings,’ Mark, in the next life.”
Thank you, Mark, for everything on behalf of our chapters, staff, board, and, of course, our members.