Mark Gallagher, June, 2011.

Newest painting in my living room by Michael Maitner, an artist from Michigan (summer, 2011)

Mark Gallagher and the Atlantic Ocean, October, 2011.

Example of my photography, I shot this restaurant in San Francisco.  (2010)

Recent Projects

I currently do marketing and web consulting for Lonhouse Capital Advisors, working with an old buddy -  Michael Boisvert. We worked together in public finance at First Chicago back in the late 80's.  Longhouse is a new consulting firm started by Michael that advises colleges and nonprofits on their capital financing needs (how to finance construction projects at the lowest cost of funds). 

I also manage my own bond portfolio using the skills I developed as a municipal bond banker at First Chicago back in the 80's.  I invest in Treasuries, Municipal bonds, GNMA bonds and funds and Corporate Bonds. The goal is to generate sufficient income to live on and grow the portfolio. 

Mark and an ATV on vacation at a park in Pennsylvania, Summer, 2011.

From 1995 to 2005 I worked on building web sites, portals and applications (as project manager) at JP Morgan Chase and Bank One.  I managed the small team that was the business owner and provided support for the enterprise web applications including the front-end portal home page, the enterprise phone book, search and communications tools used globally in the Bank.  

I  was the internal champion that developed the original vision and  business case for the corporate intranet at Bank One / First Chicago. We won approval  for funding and managed the growth of the intranet from a few hundred users in 1996 to a production intranet in 2005 with over 150,000 users and a home page with over 200,000 hits per day.

I  was recruited out of Bank's bond department by the Chief Technology Officer of corporate banking to manage the Bank's intranet and work with business units to transition banking products to the web.

The Bank One Intranet Team in front of the "Bean" at Millennium Park, Chicago, 2004
Vincent Baytion, Mark Gallagher, Lori Wilson, Angie Ng, and Dennis Deacon.

The December, 1996 issue of Computerworld included a front-page story on the impact of competition between Microsoft and Netscape on the pricing of web products to  corporate customers. My views were featured in this story and my  picture appeared on the cover.

Past Work

Before joining the technology group in the Bank, I had a nine year career in investment banking at First Chicago including inventing a new savings product for parents and grandparents called "College Savings Bonds".

These tax-free, zero-coupon bonds have been very popular with individual investors. Over $1.8 billion has been invested in this product since 1988. This was the most successful financial product offered by the municipal bond department in the late 1980's and early 1990's. I was awarded "Deal of the Year" recognition from Institutional  Investor (view "Deal of the Year" article) for creating College Savings Bonds. College Savings Bonds was the subject of stories in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal , Chicago Tribune and a front page headline story in the Chicago Sun-Times. I  was interviewed by all these papers and appeared on radio and television talk shows to discuss college planning for parents.

Listen to Terry Savage / Mark Gallagher Interview  ( MP3 file:  1 minute, 45 seconds duration )

I  also served as financial advisor on the bond issues for the International Terminal at the Chicago O'Hare Airport and the new Comiskey Park Stadium.  In early 1996, I  moved from investment banking to the technology group working on internet projects.

For most of 1995, I  took a leave from First Chicago to work in the Offices of the Governor and Lt. Governor as the Technology Coordinator for the State of Illinois. I  was responsible for managing technology projects in education and government agencies. We created the first prototype home page on the web for the Governor and served as champion of this technology in presentations to the Governor and legislative leaders.

Governor's Press Release - Technology Post

Prior to joining First Chicago in 1986, I  worked in state government in Illinois on budget, debt management and economic development projects.  I was a division chief in the Bureau of the Budget and learned a lot from the smart people working for Governor Thompson about good information design and public speaking.

John Gilchrist, Mark Gallagher, Robert F. Mandeville London, 1986

The photo on the left was shot in London in 1986 during a business trip to learn about the European bond market.. On the right is Bob Mandeville, the budget director of the State of Illinois and my boss for six years. Bob taught me how to look at complicated issues, evaluate the options and communicate solutions in simple terms to the decision makers. John Gilchrist on the left was my boss at First Chicago and taught me how to focus my sales and marketing skills.