Baltimore County’s first Asian American department head brings local and international experience to role
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Baltimore County’s first Asian American department head brings local and international experience to role
Maya Lora, Baltimore Sun
5 min read
A lifetime of travel couldn’t keep Marcus Wang away from Baltimore County.
“I was born and raised here. I’ve been all over the world, all over the country, but I keep coming back,” Wang, 41, said. “There’s something about this county that really attracts me.”
Wang said his parents — both doctors — raised him with an emphasis on giving back and serving. On Monday, Wang stepped into his new role as the acting director of Baltimore County’s Department of Economic and Workforce Development. He’s the first Asian American to lead a Baltimore County department, according to a news release from the county.
To take the job, Wang left ZytoGen Global Genetics Institute, which he co-founded. It’s based in the county and specializes in preimplantation genetic screening for IVF embryos.
He was appointed to his new position by County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. in mid-July, and will serve in an acting capacity while awaiting confirmation from the County Council. He will make $203,000 annually.
“When he [Olszewski] asked me to come on board, to leave the private sector, it wasn’t something that I had actively considered in the past,” Wang said. “I talked to my wife [Stephanie]. She said, ‘If you care about giving back, about serving, then take the opportunity, go into public service and do what you can for all the people of Baltimore.’ And that’s why I’m here.”
But the public sector isn’t entirely new for Wang. Since 2020, he has served as the chair of the Baltimore County Economic Development Advisory Board. He described the role as a link between the business community and the county, giving input on policies that shape economic development.
Wang’s work in that role made it easy for Olszewski to tap him for this new venture, the county executive said.
“Marcus brings a wealth of private sector business and legal expertise to both local and international levels to Baltimore County,” Olszewski said. “I sort of view this ... as a continuation of the work he’d already been doing for the county.”
Wang said he plans to support entrepreneurship and innovation while promoting businesses at home and abroad. He wants to support spaces like Towson University’s StarTUp at the Armory to raise the next generation of entrepreneurs.
“It’s not just about going to work and coming home. It’s about enjoying your life, about ensuring that Baltimore County is a place where you want to live and work,” Wang said. “Yes, [there’s] Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas. But I think we’re gonna build innovative, billion-dollar companies right here in Baltimore County.”
Olszewski also named Horacio Tablada, the former secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, to lead the county’s Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability, making Tablada the first Hispanic American leader of a Baltimore County department. Tablada and Wang’s appointments contribute to “the most diverse administration in Baltimore County’s history,” according to Olszewski.
“Diversity is our strength and it makes us better at the work that we do,” Olszewski said. “Marcus is another barrier-breaking appointee. But that’s not what drove the appointment. Marcus, like all of our leaders, they deserve to be here in the first place.”
Wang didn’t realize his appointment was historic until it was announced, but he called it a “tremendous honor.”
He added that as a Chinese American, he’s always felt he has the “best of both worlds.”
“I’ve always found my heritage to be tremendously inspirational. You know, Chinese culture embraces inclusivity, tolerance, and the ideal of harmony without conformity,” Wang said. “We all have the responsibility to participate in making our community better. For my appointment, I want to show that. And I hopefully will encourage other people who are Asian American and not Asian American to say, ‘We also want to be part of this.’”
The explosion of anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic led Wang to serve on former Gov. Larry Hogan’s Asian American Hate Crimes Workgroup.
Wang attended Gilman School for 12 years before obtaining a bachelor’s degree at Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. He received a full ride through the Samuel and Anne Hopkins Scholarship Fund and was mentored by Henry H. Hopkins, who helped establish the fund and formerly was chief legal counsel for T. Rowe Price.
Hopkins said Wang emailed him to tell him he was taking the county position. Hopkins, who was impressed by Wang upon their first meeting, said he will do a “magnificent job.”
“He’s an immensely capable and hardworking young man. I don’t think he needed much mentoring because he’s a lot smarter than I am and just a real gentleman,” Hopkins said. “He wants to give back the same way he was given to.”
Before founding ZytoGen, Wang expanded Baltimore-based Under Armour into the Chinese market. Wang wants to use his international experience to tell Baltimore County’s “story to the world” and bring direct investment to the area.
“Marcus understands the local community,” Olszewski said. “He came back to raise a family here after traveling the world.”
Wang met his wife while performing karaoke in Shanghai; she’s originally from London. The couple have two young children, who Wang gets to watch go to the same libraries and parks he frequented growing up.
“It really makes me think that we, we’re all of us here today, we’re benefiting from the hard work that the generation before us in the county, the work they did for us,” Wang said. “When I look at my children, other people’s children, I think: that’s our responsibility, too. We’re gonna work hard and leave something behind. They won’t remember who we are, but the work we do will live on for them.”
This article is part of our Newsmaker series, which profiles notable people in the Baltimore region who are having an impact in our diverse communities. If you’d like to suggest someone who should be profiled, please send their name and a short description of what they are doing to make a difference to: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Editor Kamau High at khigh@baltsun.com.
