Background and Brief Bio

Mark Orton enrolled in an Econ 101 course Freshman college year in 1965. This brought homo economicus to his attention. His professor urged him not to take this too seriously. “Its only a model.”  From early in his management career in the 1980s Mark noted disconnects between the rhetoric of economics and business schools and the real world he lived in. During the late ’90s he had exposure to the world of private investors and venture capital. Stimulated by the events surrounding the Great Recession of 2008-2009, Mark began to read in-depth about many aspects of the state of the world. Economics, politics, history and on…. This led to the website AmericanDelusions.com

Mark graduated from The Taft School ‘65 (Watertown, CT) and holds degrees in Russian Language and Literature and Manufacturing Engineering from Lawrence University ‘69 and Wentworth Institute of Technology ‘77 respectively. He has also done graduate work at Cornell University in linguistics and Harvard Extension School in business management.

Mark’s work history includes the following positions: machinist, r&d machinist, mechanical designer, r&d engineer, and numerous management positions in manufacturing, including Plant Manager, VP of Inside Sales and Custom Engineering, and VP of Marketing. He also worked for a quasi-public consulting firm (New England Supplier Institute), providing lean manufacturing consulting support to manufacturers throughout New England. In 1999, he started a software company, Valuedge, Inc., with a partner, Sherry Gordon. This company was funded by Boeing and later sold. The products continue to be offered by IBM in their suite of ERP tools.

In recent years, Mark has continued to consult with the owners and CEOs of small companies. For the last twelve years Mark has been involved with a start up software company in Hudson, NY, UThisMe, llc. (YouThisMe.com) which has morphed into the healthcare-centric UTMHealthcare, llc (UTMHealthcare.com) and a new venture NuLinkHealth, llc (NuLinkHealth.com).

Since moving to Hudson, NY, from Cambridge, MA, in 2009, Mark has been very involved with the Hudson Area Library. He served on its Board of Trustees for 12 years including 7 years as President. During that time, the library successfully re-built a late 19th National Guard Armory into a modern library. He served on its Board of Trustees for 12 years including 7 years as the President. During that time, the library successfully re-built a late 19th National Guard Armory into a modern library.

Mark now resides in West Palm Beach, FL.

(revised 8.14.2024)