Dr. Mark S. Denke is the Assistant Executive Director of the Arizona Board of Regents for Academic and Student Affairs.  The Arizona state universities are operationally independent from each other, but, together with the Board, they comprise the principal components of the system of coordinated governance established by the Board and known as the Arizona University System. The authority of the Board of Regents includes the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University with a combined enrollment of over 117,000 students and annual operating budgets of $3.1 billion. Dr. Denke represents the Arizona Board of Regents on many local and regional committees and advisory councils, including the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE); the Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC); the Western Consortium for Accelerated Learning Opportunities (WCALO); the Arizona ACT Advisory Council Executive Committee (ACT); the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education (ACPE); the Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC); and the All-Arizona Academic Team Steering Committee.

Dr. Denke has provided leadership for student development initiatives in many areas of academic and student affairs at a number of universities for more than 27 years. Prior to coming to the Arizona Board of Regents, he held a joint appointment as Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Colorado State University . As a faculty member for the Student Affairs in Higher Education Graduate Program in the School of Education , The College of Applied Human Sciences, Dr. Denke taught a graduate level course entitled "Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Studies". This course examines the basic principles of organizational behavior from a structural, collegial, political, and cultural perspective, with an emphasis on change and leadership practices. He was also a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Northern Colorado in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Graduate Program in the College of Education, and taught the "Finance and Resource Management in Higher Education" course in the doctoral program. He has been nominated by students and alumni numerous times as a “Best Teacher” at Colorado State University and won the award in 1999. In the fall of 2003, the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU) established the “Dr. Mark S. Denke Service Award” at Colorado State University to be given annually to an administrative professional staff member in recognition of outstanding service and support to students at Colorado State University .

Dr. Denke has made many national, regional, and state professional presentations on the topics of leadership, supervision, change, budgeting, financial planning, applications of technology, and human resource management. He served as a faculty member at two National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Region IV-West Mid-Level Institutes and the New Professional Institute (NPI) in 2003. He was selected by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Region IV-West for the 2003 Outstanding Faculty Award, “Presented to a faculty member who has contributed significantly to graduate higher education and the preparation of student affairs professionals.” In 2005, Dr. Denke received a national award from the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) as the Outstanding Mentor to Graduate Students. He has served for two terms on the editorial board for The Journal of Student Affairs Administration, Research, and Practice.

During the summer of 2004, Dr. Denke was invited to participate in the Oxford Round Table at Oxford University , Oxford , England . This is an intensive and selective professional colloquium for senior college and university administrators engaging in discussions of contemporary higher education policy issues that affect nations and states worldwide. He holds a Doctor of Education Degree in Higher Education from the University of Kansas , a Master of Science Degree in Counseling/College Student Personnel Administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the Pennsylvania State University . In 2005, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania selected Dr. Denke for the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest honor the university can bestow upon a graduate.