Mark Skender, former CEO of Chicago-based Skender Construction, passed away on April 18 at the age of 61.
Skender was born Dec. 3, 1963, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. After his education, he joined the family business, which was founded by his father Joseph Skander Sr. in 1980 and focused on both residential and commercial real estate.
Skender served as the company’s executive vice president from 1989 to 2014 and as CEO from 2014 to 2020. Most recently, Skender served as president and co-founder of RaaP, an early-stage construction platform. He also served on nonprofit boards including The Frances Xavier Warde School and Hostelling International USA, was a co-founder of the Lean Construction Institute’s Chicago Community of Practice and worked as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University.
