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BY ANDREW WILLIAMSON Contributor to The Shorthorn Mark Mortensen, education assistant professor and technology director at the university, died Monday morning. He was 56. Mortensen received a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the University of... More

BY ANDREW WILLIAMSON Contributor to The Shorthorn Mark Mortensen, education assistant professor and technology director at the university, died Monday morning. He was 56. Mortensen received a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin in 1974, a master’s in computer education and cognitive systems from the University of North Texas in 1991 and a doctorate in higher education from North Texas in 1995. “We will definitely miss his wisdom and his insight,” said Kelsey Downum, research interim vice president. Mortensen a chaired the Institutional Review Board, a group that regulates research done with human subjects, Downum said. He said the board is a faculty committeethatapprovesproposedexperiments and research involving human subjects. The board deals with the ethics of humans as research subjects and ensures their health and wellbeing, he said. “[It’s] probably one of the highest profile university positions that there is on campus,” Downum said. D Less