Meet Mark Viste

Mark was born and raised in Sioux Falls, SD, the son of a chemistry professor and a librarian at Augustana College. Mark followed in his parents' academic footsteps, earning bachelor degrees in German, English, Modern Foreign Languages, Math, Physics, and Chemistry. After completing a Fulbright Fellowship in Munich, Germany, he went on to earn a Masters and Ph.D in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago. 

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In 1999, Mark began his career at Medtronic, where he has risen to the role of Senior Principal Scientist and Chief Engineer. His team designs life-saving cardiac implant technology. With other Medtronic employees, Mark regularly volunteers in the community, most recently at Second Harvest Heartland. He's also served as chair of the Industry Advisory Board to the Center for Solid-State Electric Power Storage, a collaborative research center supported by the National Science Foundation.

 

Mark bought his house in Brooklyn Center in 2001. In his free time he enjoys biking, cross country skiing, hiking, camping, canoeing in the Boundary Waters, gardening, singing in a Finnish language choir (yeah, he's weird that way), and playing with his lively rescue pup Enzo. 

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After the shooting of Daunte Wright by a City of Brooklyn Center police officer in 2021, Mark was compelled to act. He joined Emerging Brooklyn Center, an organization committed to overcoming racism by bringing together a cross section of Brooklyn Center residents for monthly programs and educational trips.

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Mark also served on the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heilser Community Safety and Violence Prevention Implementation Committee (DKIC), formed in 2022, which brought together community members and city staff to provide recommendations on key public safety changes in Brooklyn Center. The committee finalized two public safety policy recommendations and presented them to the Brooklyn Center City Council later that year. A key reason Mark is running for City Council is to continue the vital work of police reform. Another is to ensure Brooklyn Center does everything possible to protect our residents from ICE.