Mitchell Marks and Melvin Holm

Mitchell (Mitch) Marks grew up on a small farm near Saco, Montana and attended Glasgow High School. Following high school, he attended Eastern Montana College, earning a business degree in 1984. Following graduation, he had a successful 35-year financial services career with First Bank System (now US Bank) before his retirement at the end of 2018. Primarily, he worked for US Bank in Minneapolis, but worked in Rapid City, Sioux Falls, and St Paul as well.

Mitch and his husband, Melvin (Mel) Holm, have been together for over 30 years, being legally married in September 2013. They are both retired and reside at a summer home in Minnesota and a winter home in Arizona.

Mel grew up in Chicago suburb, Park Ridge, and attended Maine East High School. Following high school, he attended Moorhead State College (now Minnesota State University, Moorhead), earning a business degree in 1972. Following graduation, he had a long successful career in financial services with ITT Financial, First Bank System and Wells Fargo Bank.

Mitch values his Montana roots and particularly his formative years attending EMC. He believes his education at EMC prepared him well for his successful career with US Bank. Accordingly, Mitch started his long philanthropic history with EMC Foundation (subsequently the MSU Billings Foundation) soon after his graduation and has been a regular donor since 1987. For many years, he has supported the Harold H. Winter Endowed Scholarship, a scholarship for MSU Billings Business students.

Mitch and Mel are committed to numerous philanthropic ventures. Their most recent is the Mitchell Marks and Melvin Holm Scholarship Endowment at MSU Billings. The first scholarship was awarded in the academic year 2025-2026.