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2026-11-11T17:03:03Z

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Powerbase research: New page: Mark Kirk (House 2001–2010, Senate 2010–2017, UANI board of advisers; official portrait)

2026-11-11T12:16:54Z

New page: Mark Kirk (House 2001–2010, Senate 2010–2017, UANI board of advisers; official portrait)

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{{short description|'''Former Republican US senator and representative from Illinois; later adviser to United Against Nuclear Iran'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mark Kirk
| image = Senator_Mark_Kirk_official_portrait.jpg
| image_size = 180
| caption = Official Senate portrait, 2010
| birth_date = {{Start date|1959|9|15}}
| birth_place = Champaign, Illinois
| nationality = American
| occupation = Lawyer; former member of Congress; adviser, [[United Against Nuclear Iran]]
| known_for = Republican US senator from Illinois (2010–2017); US representative (2001–2010)
| education = Cornell University (B.A., 1981); London School of Economics (M.S., 1982); Georgetown University (J.D., 1992)
}}
'''Mark Steven Kirk''' is an American lawyer and Republican politician who represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives from 3 January 2001 until 29 November 2010 and in the United States Senate from 29 November 2010 until 3 January 2017.<ref name="House">U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Historian, [https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/K/KIRK,-Mark-Steven-(K000360)/ KIRK, Mark Steven], biographical directory entry, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref> In June 2017 he joined the board of advisers of [[United Against Nuclear Iran]] (UANI).<ref name="UANIPR">United Against Nuclear Iran, [https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/press-releases/former-us-senator-mark-kirk-joins-uani-board-of-advisors Former U.S. Senator Mark Kirk Joins UANI Board of Advisors], 20 June 2017, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref>

== Early career ==
The official congressional biographical directory records that Kirk was born in Champaign, Illinois, on 15 September 1959, took a B.A. at Cornell University in 1981, an M.S. at the London School of Economics in 1982, and a J.D. at Georgetown University in 1992, and served in the United States Naval Reserve from 1989. It lists work as a staff member for Representative John Porter of Illinois (1984–1990), as a special assistant at the State Department (1992–1993), in private legal practice, and as a staff member of the House International Relations Committee in 1995.<ref name="House" />

Kirk's Senate office biography, captured in May 2016, adds that he graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, attended Blackburn College and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and worked at the World Bank as well as the State Department before practising law at Baker & McKenzie and serving as counsel to the House International Relations Committee. It says he served as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer from 1989 until 2013, when he retired with the rank of commander. The official directory entry, which has not been updated on this point, still says "United States Naval Reserves, 1989 to present."<ref name="Senate">U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160524213814/http://www.kirk.senate.gov/?p=about_senator About Mark], Internet Archive capture of 24 May 2016, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref><ref name="House" /><ref name="UANI">United Against Nuclear Iran, [https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/people/mark-kirk Mark Kirk], biography, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref>

UANI's biography of Kirk says that he served tours with the Defense Intelligence Agency in the National Military Command Center and was deployed during Operation Allied Force in Kosovo and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and that he retired as a commander in 2013.<ref name="UANI" /><ref name="UANIPR" />

== House and Senate ==
Kirk was elected as a Republican to the 107th Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving Illinois's 10th district from 3 January 2001 until he resigned on 29 November 2010. On 2 November 2010 he was elected to the Senate both in a special election for the term ending 3 January 2011, a seat previously held by appointed senator Roland Burris, and in the general election for the six-year term ending 3 January 2017. He took the Senate oath on 29 November 2010. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 2016.<ref name="House" />

His Senate office biography, written while he was still in office, said that in January 2012 he suffered an ischaemic stroke, underwent surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and returned to the Senate on 3 January 2013, climbing the Capitol steps after nearly a year of rehabilitation. It listed service on the Appropriations, Banking, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Aging committees, and said he chaired the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and the Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance.<ref name="Senate" /> UANI later described those subcommittee roles as chairmanships at the time he left Congress.<ref name="UANI" /><ref name="UANIPR" />

The International Republican Institute says that Kirk joined its board of directors in 2012.<ref name="IRI">International Republican Institute, [https://www.iri.org/who-we-are/iri-experts/mark-kirk/ The Honorable Mark Kirk], board biography, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref>

== United Against Nuclear Iran ==
On 20 June 2017 UANI announced that Kirk had joined its board of advisers. The release quoted him as saying that he was "proud to join UANI" and looked forward to highlighting "the serious risks Iran poses to the world." UANI's chief executive, Mark Wallace, and its chairman, former senator Joseph Lieberman, issued welcoming statements. UANI's biographical page, still listing him when retrieved in November 2026, repeats his congressional committee roles and Navy service and says that after leaving office he was "developing a professional portfolio that leverages his unique foreign affairs expertise, particularly in China and Israel."<ref name="UANIPR" /><ref name="UANI" />

== Positions ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Positions in the sources cited
! Dates !! Organisation !! Role !! Source
|-
| 1984–1990 || Office of Representative John Porter || Staff member || <ref name="House" />
|-
| 1992–1993 || U.S. Department of State || Special assistant || <ref name="House" />
|-
| 1995 || House International Relations Committee || Staff / counsel (the directory says "staff member"; the Senate and UANI biographies say counsel) || <ref name="House" /><ref name="Senate" /><ref name="UANI" />
|-
| 1989–2013 (the official directory still says "to present") || U.S. Navy Reserve || Intelligence officer; retired as commander, according to his Senate office and UANI || <ref name="House" /><ref name="Senate" /><ref name="UANI" />
|-
| 3 January 2001 – 29 November 2010 || U.S. House of Representatives || Republican representative, Illinois 10th district || <ref name="House" />
|-
| 29 November 2010 – 3 January 2017 || United States Senate || Republican senator from Illinois || <ref name="House" />
|-
| From 2012 || International Republican Institute || Board of directors || <ref name="IRI" />
|-
| From 20 June 2017 || [[United Against Nuclear Iran]] || Board of advisers || <ref name="UANIPR" /><ref name="UANI" />
|}

== See also ==
* [[United Against Nuclear Iran]]

== External links ==
* [https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/K/KIRK,-Mark-Steven-(K000360)/ Official congressional biographical directory entry]
* [https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/people/mark-kirk UANI biography]

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:US Senators|Kirk, Mark]]
[[Category:Lawyers|Kirk, Mark]]
[[Category:Target Iran|Kirk, Mark]]
[[Category:Revolving Door|Kirk, Mark]]

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 | name         = Mark Kirk
 | image        = Senator_Mark_Kirk_official_portrait.jpg
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+| image_size   = 180px
 | caption      = Official Senate portrait, 2010
 | birth_date   = {{Start date|1959|9|15}}

Mark Kirk - Revision history

Powerbase research: Add px unit to infobox image_size

Powerbase research: New page: Mark Kirk (House 2001–2010, Senate 2010–2017, UANI board of advisers; official portrait)