Professor Kucskar serves as Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Vice President for Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). As Special Assistant, he supports the UMB president by providing professional, high-level staffing of the president and his agenda; planning and coordinating long- and short-term projects in the university’s priority areas; and acting as a liaison between the president’s office and key internal and external stakeholders. As AVP for ERM, Jon leads UMB’s ERM program as it is evolving to embed, sustain, and support an entrepreneurial, collaborative, and responsible risk-taking culture across UMB.
From 2015-2018, Professor Kucskar served as Senior Commission Advisor at the Maryland Public Service Commission. As a member of the Executive Team, he provided policy analysis, advice and support to each of the five gubernatorial-appointed Commissioners on matters pending before the Commission and other federal or State entities. Prof. Kucskar led the Commission's efforts to modernize Maryland's electric distribution systems to ensure that it is customer-centered, affordable, reliable and environmentally sustainable. He also spoke at or moderated expert panels for numerous national, regional and local events.
From 2012–2015, Professor Kucskar served as Deputy Legal Counsel to Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. In that role, he counseled the Governor and his staff on judicial appointments, state ethics law, pardons and commutations, procurement matters, and a wide range of policy issues across state government. Previously, Prof. Kucskar served as a Senior Attorney at the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), where he advised GAO's Natural Resources & Environment and Financial Markets & Community Investment policy teams. He began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Jillyn K. Schulze of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Professor Kucskar graduated magna cum laude from UM Carey Law, where he served as president of the Student Bar Association, an associate editor and published author of the Journal of Health Care Law & Policy, a member of the Moot Court Board, and a member of the school's national runner-up softball team. Jon is originally from the Buffalo, New York area and graduated cum laude from Boston College.
Previously, Professor Kucskar served as Board President of the Baltimore Family Alliance, President of the UM Carey Law Alumni Board, and as a volunteer attorney for the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Advocacy & Justice Clinic. He was named to The Daily Record's VIP List, and he is a 2017 graduate of Leadership Maryland.