Education
Chelgren holds an associate of science degree from Riverside Community College. He also attended the University of California Riverside, but did not receive a degree.
Chelgren"s Iowa State Senate biography states that at University of California Riverside he studied "astro-physics, geo-physics, logic, and mathematics."
The Iowa State Senate Republicans organization asserts that Chelgren "has a degree in business management from Forbco Management school and attended the University of California at Riverside majoring in astro-physics, geo-physics and mathematics. Chelgren"s Facebook page states that "Mark Chelgren received his education in Astroand Geo-Physics at the University of California in Riverside.
Chelgren worked through college as a Manager and Auditor for Forbco Management in Anaheim, Ca. and then as a Geophysicist for GeoSoils in Temecula".
Career
He was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. He represents District 41. The Iowa Senate Republicans organization states that "Senator Chelgren is an entrepreneur with multiple patents, primarily focused in health care..".
Senator Chelgren has a patent for a wheelchair shock absorber that is assigned to his company FrogLegs Incorporated and has filed for two patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (patent applications #20100123296 and #20140100490).
A patent has not been issued for either application. 2015 Public Universities Bill In 2015, Chelgren proposed a bill to the Iowa Legislature requiring all university professors to teach at least one course each semester, to terminate employment of professors receiving poor course evaluations, and to hold a student vote among the five professors with the worst course evaluations, in order to terminate the contract of the professor receiving the fewest votes.
In an interview with the Chronicle of Higher regarding the bill, Chelgren asserted: "When I went to school, the professors who graded the hardest were among my favorite professors, not among my least favorites. The ones who seemed like they were just going through the motions and weren’t actually doing their jobs were the ones that were very frustrating.
Instead of me working with that professor, you’d be pushed off to a TA or you’d simply deal with a professor who was so arrogant that you couldn’t actually ask questions without being demeaned in class.
You talk about education in general and avoiding bullying issues, but a professor runs their classroom like they’re some kind of dictator.".
Politics
Republican Party of Iowa, Republican Party.
Membership
He is a member of the National Rifle Association.