‘Jack of all trades’ wins a Massey Award
IT systems specialist Mark Wampole has gone above and beyond in his support of Carolina for 27 years.
Since 1999, Mark Wampole ’89 has served Carolina as an information technology systems specialist. In the nearly 27 years since he got the job in Information Technology Services, the Carolina alumnus goes beyond the typical tech support tasks to better the campus community.
Those years of support have earned Wampole a Massey Award.
“I’m honored,” Wampole said. “Honored that people felt they should nominate me and honored to be recognized by my peers.”
The Massey Awards recognize “unusual, meritorious or superior contributions” by University employees. A common theme from nominators was how his contributions go above and beyond the requirements of his job.
“Mark is often the first one in the office and one of the last to leave,” wrote a nominator, one of several from the senior leadership team to vouch for Wampole. “He ensures that our work runs smoothly, all while remaining behind the scenes.”
Wampole and his team members support nearly 300 people across 18 buildings on campus by installing, maintaining and securing computer hardware and software.
Over the past 27 years, troubleshooting issues has changed as technology has evolved. But Wampole said he has never really struggled with adapting.
“I’m all hands-on,” Wampole said. “Keeping up with changes is part of the job.”
It’s not just technical maintenance that Wampole continues to provide. In recent years, he’s spent time at home building new monitor stands, with cases, for the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees meetings, building other wooden items for South Building colleagues and rigging affordable solutions for conference room audiovisuals.
“Mark is a true jack of all trades,” another nominator wrote. “He will do anything to support the University and will continue to do so every minute he’s here.”
Across four decades at Carolina
Wampole arrived at Carolina after spending his first college semester at another in-state university.
“Originally I was at NC State,” Wampole said. “But I got mono during my first semester, and by midterms I still wasn’t feeling great, so I thought I would just leave and go to technical school.”
But Wampole’s family had deep ties to Carolina. His stepfather had received a doctorate from Carolina, his brother was enrolled there, and his mother was pursuing a degree in music at the same time. After some encouragement from his family, Wampole applied just before registration and got in.
As a student, he worked at Triangle Office Equipment, which became a full-time job after graduation. Before long, he found his way back to Carolina, landing a job in ITS.
Over the years, Wampole has worked with countless notable Tar Heels, something that immediately came to mind when he learned he was a Massey Award recipient.
“There’s been over 200 Massey Award winners,” Wampole said. “In my time here, I’ve communicated with about 52 of them and have worked directly with 33 of them.”
When he’s not on campus, Wampole loves spending time with his family and riding motorcycles, a dream he wanted to achieve ever since he was a teenager.
“I just love mechanical things,” Wampole said. “In 2006, I bought my first motorcycle and from then on it just became a passion.”
Wampole’s love of mechanics and fixing things is part of the reason he goes beyond the duties listed in his job description. But he also said that working with people is still the most satisfying part of the role.
“The people are what keep me here,” Wampole said. “There are a lot of great people who have taught me over the years and who I look up to. And it’s still rewarding to bring new technology into people’s lives on campus.”
