In our Alumni Highlight Series, we are profiling some of the most distinguished Cushman Alumni from our 97-year history. After years of studying and working toward a career, this Cougar’s hard work has paid off.
Name: Commodore Mark Ingraham
Hometown: Miami
Degree/Major: Juris Doctor
Years attended The Cushman School: 1977-1985
Where are you working? Title? Law Offices of Ingraham and Associates/Managing Partner
In a nutshell, what do you do/your role (one sentence or less)? I have my hands in every aspect of the business, soup to nuts.
Why did you pursue this career? I didn’t have a choice; my father is an attorney and he made me. No, just kidding, but my experience as an attorney has been great and extremely helpful in other endeavors outside of law, and that has been very rewarding to me.
Family Snapshot? I was lucky to meet my beautiful wife Kate way back in 1991 while we were freshmen at Boston College, and we have now been married for 17 years, woo-hoo!
What was your greatest fear going into your first job and how did you face it or overcome it? I think the pillars of character that Cushman instills in you at a very early age stick with you for life and are very helpful in meeting different challenges that life presents.
What is your favorite memory of your years at The Cushman School? Wow, there are so many. I think I can best sum that up by saying that my Cushman years were really a happy chapter in my life. An important time in your life, when you are young and impressionable, and the care and loving nature of the school went a very long way.
A word that describes you: Steady
What do you think sets The Cushman School apart? Cushman sets itself apart from other schools by really focusing not only on the academics but also the development of producing kids that value kindness, fairness, integrity, and the value of hard work.
Your proudest accomplishment: My proudest accomplishment is our daughter Lucy who is a freshman at Cushman High School. I have had the great privilege to watch her have all of the same opportunities and experiences that I had at Cushman.
What do you do when you are not working? I have been working on my life plan to sail off to a remote island and not come back (LOL). I was just appointed as Commodore of the Miami Yacht Club and am working with the City of Miami on a long-term viability plan to ensure the preservation of the almost 100-year-old property while also expanding our community outreach programming. I have also had great fun over the last few years developing and building eco-friendly houses on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
Recommend an article or a book: I love Miami history books. Historian Dr. Paul George’s book about Cushman is great.
There is another book I could not put down. Written by local historian Thelma Peters, it is a study of the original pioneer families that settled around Lemon City and Little River 100 years ago. As an aside, my father attended Edison High School in 1940, and Ms. Peters was his teacher. I was so excited to find an original copy of her book titled “Lemon City, Pioneering on Biscayne Bay, 1850-1925.”
I need to re-read “The Commodore’s Story” by Commodore Ralph Munroe, a sailor and early pioneer of Coconut Grove and a fascinating read.
What would you recommend to future Cushman alums? Think outside of the box. Follow your heart and do what makes you happy, the world is your oyster.