Dr. Mark Gagnon

Dr. Mark Gagnon graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1990. Initially stationed in Germany as a Field Artillery Officer, he completed a branch transfer to the Quartermaster Corps in 1994 and served with the 10th Mountain Division Infantry at Fort Drum, New York. 

After earning a master’s degree in German from the University of California, Irvine, in 1999, then-CPT Gagnon completed a tour as an instructor of German at West Point. He changed career concentration to that of a Foreign Area Officer (FAO) with a regional focus on European and returned to Germany for a tour at the George C. Marshall Center, European Center for Security Studies, in Garmish-Partenkirchen. 

Lieutenant Colonel Gagnon was appointed as Academy Professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages in 2003 and received his doctorate in German from Harvard University in 2006. In 2010, he deployed for a year to Baghdad as the Theater Linguist Manager, coordinating all interpreter and translation support in the Iraqi Theater of Operations. 

In 2020, Colonel Gagnon retired from active duty. Dr. Gagnon’s awards and decorations include Army Parachutist’s Badge, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal, as well as the Army Commendation and Achievement Medals and the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (Gold). 

Dr. Gagnon lives with his family in Cornwall, New York.