State Veterinarian
Born and raised in central Illinois, Dr. Mark Ernst completed his undergraduate coursework at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and earned a D.V.M. from the U. of I. College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. After spending five years in mixed animal practice in central Illinois, he accepted a position with the Illinois Department of Agriculture as a field veterinarian and foreign animal disease diagnostician.
In 2005, he was appointed state veterinarian and bureau chief of the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. He currently serves as the state veterinarian and division manager of food safety and animal protection, which includes the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare, the Bureau of Meat and Poultry Inspection, and the Egg Inspection Program.