Maureen Sorbo Logan ’78 and Dr. Mark Logan: Paying It Forward

Leslie Bates

Her own college experience inspired Maureen Sorbo Logan ’78 and her husband, Mark Logan, to establish a need-based scholarship for Mid-Hudson Valley students.

Maureen Sorbo Logan was among the most distinguished graduates of the Marist Class of 1978. She was named valedictorian, earned an accounting degree summa cum laude, and received the Academic Excellence Award and the Wall Street Journal Award for Excellence in Business and Economics. Yet what she smiles about most in recalling her commencement in the “new” James J. McCann Recreation Center is her 4-year-old daughter, Stephanie, sitting in the front row, trying to climb on stage.

Her other most heartwarming memory is the support she received from the Marist faculty as the mother of a young child, returning to college with few financial resources. In gratitude, Maureen and her husband Mark recently established the Mark and Maureen (Sorbo ’78) Logan Scholarship, a permanent, endowed scholarship fund at Marist to support students from the Mid-Hudson Valley who have significant financial need and are majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics), accounting, or finance. The scholarship recognizes the commitment of the Logans, who live in Poughkeepsie, to helping talented local students reach their potential, earn a bachelor’s degree, and find career-focused employment following graduation. In addition, the Logans are recent inductees to the Marist College Legacy Society.

The Class of 1971 valedictorian of Pine Plains High School in eastern Dutchess County, Maureen began her college studies at Bennett College in Millbrook, New York, where she received an associate’s degree. She later transferred to Marist.

“Brother Cornelius (Russell, FMS ’50) took me under his wing,” she recalls. “I was a mother of a 1-year-old. He made sure I had the assistance I needed.” For example, she says Brother Cornelius and other business faculty made sure she got into courses that would allow her to attend class full time two to three days a week instead of going part time over five days, greatly easing the crunch of balancing commuting, courses, and childcare.

Her mentors continued to look out for her throughout her time at Marist. In her final semester, she says she had trouble with her financial aid.

“I couldn’t get a loan. I was really distraught. Even books were a problem.” She thought she would not be able to finish college. “I was so very disappointed.”

But she recalls Brother Cornelius reassuring her: “ ‘Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. We’ll find a way.’ ” Ultimately, she was able to get a loan. She and Brother Cornelius remained friends for years after she graduated. “He’d come visit and have dinner with my whole family.”

Hired shortly after graduation by a CPA firm, Maureen went on to a 38-year career at IBM. Prior to her retirement in 2016, she managed the business process, contract management, and financial operations group for the corporate intellectual property organization.

Her husband, Dr. Mark Logan, is also academically distinguished. He received a BS in chemistry from Puget Sound University in 1981 and earned his doctorate in chemistry at UC Berkeley in 1985. He is a founder and vice president for business development of Solid State Cooling Systems, Inc., based in Wappingers Falls, New York. The firm provides cooling technologies for biotech, semiconductors, lasers, and other industries to an international roster of clients including Forbes 100 firms.

Today Maureen and Mark enjoy traveling. But they also devote a lot of time to helping others in their community. Maureen has volunteered on several boards including those of the Dutchess County Mediation Center, Peach Hill Park; Giant Kids, an organization that supports families of children with cancer; and Hudson Valley Home Matters, a nonprofit that helped people age in place. Maureen and Mark are also members of the Patriots Circle of the Marines’ Memorial Association/Foundation, where Maureen is now a member of the Foundation board. She was a deacon for several years at Freedom Plains Presbyterian Church, where she and Mark help organize an annual Thanksgiving Day dinner for those in need. Through the church they became involved with efforts to supply personal-care items to local high school students in need.

From her Marist days, Maureen still has the plaques awarded at commencement citing her academic honors. But what has inspired her to volunteer, and with her husband to establish the scholarship, is the example set by Brother Cornelius and his colleagues.

“We just wanted to help kids. Payback,” she says simply. “We felt strongly that maybe we could change somebody’s life.”