Mark M. Heald, history professor at Princeton and Rutgers, was born on February 20, 1892, in Canton, Illinois. He was the son of Edward Aiken (Oberlin College, ex- 1883) and Mary Chaffee Heald. He received his A.B. from Oberlin College in 1914 and studied for a while (interrupted by World War I) at the University of Minnesota, where he was a teaching fellow from 1916-17. He later received an A.M. from Columbia University.

Heald was a tutor in history at the Oberlin Academy (1914-16), and an instructor in English at Oberlin College (1914-15). He enlisted in the U. S. Army during World War I and saw active service as a sergeant in the infantry on five main sectors of the Western Front. After the war, he worked for Herbert Hoover in the U. S. Food Administration.

Heald served as the Director of the Junior Division at the Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania for two years (1920-22) and taught at Princeton University (1924-26) before joining the faculty at Rutgers University, where he taught for many years (1926-55). He was a guest professor at Fresno (California) State College in the summer of 1947. Heald also returned to Princeton over the years for short periods of time and for various purposes. After retiring from Rutgers, Heald taught at various institutions, among them Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee (1956-58), Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (1958-59), and at Trenton (New Jersey) State College for six months (1958-59).

Heald and his wife, the former June Kilts, were married by Oberlin College President Henry Churchill King on the afternoon of Mr. Heald's graduation in 1914. They seem to have enjoyed an active social life for two years (1914-16) while Heald taught at the Oberlin Academy.

In 1949, the Healds were among the founders of the Princeton Unitarian Fellowship, which grew into the present Unitarian Church of Princeton. He was active In Scouting and was the first director of the Princeton Study Center.

Heald died on January 16, 1971 at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. The Heald family then included Heald’s son, Mark A., '50, a daughter-in-law, Jane P. Dewey Heald, '52, and three grandchildren, all of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and a sister, Mrs. S. R. (Mary) Heindel '17, of Dixon, IL. Other Oberlin relatives include a cousin. C. William, '53, of Canton, Ohio, a sister-in-law, Mrs. Kenneth M. (Frances Kilts) Holaday, '22, of St. Louis, Missouri, and a niece, Mrs. Jack R. (Judith Holaday) Carlson, '49, of Helena, Montana.

A photograph and biographical information about Mark M. Heald are included in the digital collection “Oberlin College and Military Service in World War I,” presented by the Oberlin College Archives.