University of San Francisco Athletics

Mark Avelar was born and raised in South San Francisco. He attended the local public schools and graduated from El Camino High School in 1964. He went on to attend the University of San Francisco and graduated in 1968 in History. While attending USF, he was a member of the USF golf team and competed in the NCAA Championship tournament at Stanford GC in 1966.

After graduation from USF he went on to complete his teaching credential and a Masters Degree in Education. Mark spent 40 years working in public education. He started in the South San Francisco Unified School District in 1969 and served as a teacher, coach, Assistant Principal, Junior HS Principal and High School Principal at his alma mater. He then moved in 1992 to the San Mateo Union High School District. There, he served as a High School Principal, Assistant Superintendent and retired as Deputy Superintendent in 2007. He went on to mentor new principals for the next two years.

He has been a member of The Olympic Club in San Francisco since 1965. He served as Chairman of the 1993 and 1994 PGA Tour Championships, Chairman of the 2007 U.S. Amateur and Executive Committee for the 1998 and 2012 U.S. Opens (SeniorGolfAssocNCal).