As the associate director of Corporation Affairs at Yale University, Mindy Owens Marks 1996 has been in the company of late with some pretty impressive people!  At Yale's 309th Commencement ceremony in May 2010, Mindy said she had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with the Queen of Soul, Ms. Aretha Franklin.  Ms. Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Yale, which is also Mindy's alma mater. Mindy graduated from Yale in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and later earned her master's from Southern Connecticut State University.

During that same commencement ceremony, Mindy also met famed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou while a year earlier in 2008 she had the honor of meeting Sir Paul McCartney.