WALNUT CREEK, CA, December 02, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Mark E. Foster has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Recognized for a series of influential roles and significant contributions to the legal field, Mr. Foster has led a distinguished career of over 40 years in law, international business and global trade policy. As founder of the Law Offices of Mark Foster, he represents global firms across multiple continents, collaborates with tax and litigation counsel, providing outside general counsel services to companies at various stages of development. Recognized for highly effective advocacy of his clients' interests in financing, regulatory and commercial transactions, he helps clients in North America, Europe and Asia successfully navigate international commerce.

Between two tenures of spearheading his own law firm, Mr. Foster served as a C-Level Officer of two significant companies. Mr. Foster served from 2001-2005 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Natus Medical Inc. — a publicly traded health care firm that launched the newborn baby hearing screener used by doctors worldwide to detect infant hearing problems. He oversaw all legal and regulatory affairs at Natus, also serving as EVP for Manufacturing and Quality, Chairman of Natus Japan and Natus UK, and acting CFO during Natus' expansion globally.

After leaving Natus, Mr. Foster was appointed President, General Counsel, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Volumetrics Medical Imaging, Inc., a Duke University technology spinoff that invented the modern real-time 3D medical ultrasound imaging machine. VMI's technology enables doctors to perform heart Echocardiogram ("echo") imaging, benefitting over four billion patients worldwide to date, as well as enabling doctors to capture moving images of fetuses in utero, provided to proud parents worldwide. Prof. Dr. Olaf von Ramm, Duke University, co-inventor of the real-time 3D/4D medical ultrasound machine, and Founder, Volumetrics Medical Imaging, Inc., stated: "We hired Mark to lead our effort to enforce our patents on real-time 3D/4D ultrasound technology, 40 years of my research. Under his remarkable leadership we licensed our patents to the entire ultrasound industry worldwide, validating our inventorship of the modern ultrasound machine, and bringing Duke a substantial financial return".

Before joining Natus Medical, Mr. Foster founded the Law Offices of Mark E. Foster in Silicon Valley, Portland and Tokyo in 1988. He provided legal counsel on international business transactions, technology transfer, greenfield industrial plant development, and compliance to clients including AT&T, Motorola, NEC, Toyota and St. Jude Medical. Mr. Foster has advised over a dozen disruptive startups through successful growth — with multimillion dollar revenue — to acquisition or public offering in his legal, advisory and financial officer roles. William "Bill" New, MD, PhD, inventor of pulse oximetry, Co-Founder of Nellcor; Founder Natus Medical; Founding Chairman Volumetrics Medical Imaging, said: "When I start a company or begin Board service, I bring in Mark Foster."

Earlier, Mr. Foster was appointed Counsel in Japan for the United States Electronic Industries Association during 1985 to 1986. Promoting U.S. companies' commercial interests while respecting Japanese policies, he represented exporters of American-made electronic, telecom, medical, defense and other high-technology products at Japan's government regulatory agencies, the first full-time American business lobbyist in Japan. The Wall St Journal described him as "That rarest of specimens, a full-time lobbyist for American interests in Japan".

A defining highlight of Mr. Foster's professional achievements is his tenure as Special Counsel to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from 1984 to 1985. Appointed by President Reagan's Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige, Mr. Foster worked alongside Ambassador Mike Mansfield (former Senate Majority Leader) — an appointee of President Carter reappointed by President Reagan — on critical U.S.-Japan trade negotiations opening Japan's market to US-made telecom, electronics and medical products. Mr. Foster's contributions were recognized by Ambassador Mansfield. The US Embassy stated: "The work you did … on telecommunications, medical, and electrical product technical standards and systems laid the groundwork for the US government's [decade-long] major trade initiative in the "Market Oriented Sector Selective" trade talks. We owe a lot to your pioneering effort… American firms who benefit from your work may never know the key role you played."

From 1982 to 1984, Mr. Foster practiced as an American attorney at Braun Moriya Hoashi in Tokyo, handling a range of legal matters for multinational clients navigating Japanese and U.S. laws.

Mr. Foster has lectured extensively on international law and technology standards including at the International Standardization Organization in Geneva, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan, the Japanese Standards Association, the United States Department of Commerce, University of Southern California and the World Trade Institute. Japan's Prime Minister Nakasone appointed Mr. Foster to the Technology Standards Committees for Optoelectronics under Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and for Intelligent Office Systems under Japan's Patent Office and Ministry of International Trade and Industry, from 1984 to 1986, the first ever non-Japanese member of Japan's Government technology policy-making boards.

Mr. Foster's peer-based recognitions are especially significant, reflecting his renown within the corporate legal community. Members of the Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel, comprising General Counsel of publicly traded technology companies, selected Mr. Foster as Chairman during 2002-2004, commending him for "Exceptional Support, Inspiration and Leadership". Mr. Foster was further honored by admission into the American Law Institute, a distinguished group of American judges and lawyers limited to 3,000 members, established in 1923 to promote clarification and simplification of United States law. Nominated by his law school Dean, Professor Mary Kay Kane, and former United States Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, they wrote: "Mr. Foster's legal career has been devoted to increasing world commerce by eliminating trade barriers and promoting transparent legal and regulatory systems governed by the rule of law". Mr. Foster participates in drafting ALI "Restatements of the Law" used by judges and lawyers to explain complex American laws in areas including Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Copyright.

In addition to his international trade policy work for the Reagan Administration, Mr. Foster served as security clearance-based advisor on US trade policy to Presidents Clinton, GW Bush, and Obama. As a member of Industry Trade Advisory Committees for High-Technology, and for Technical Standards, Mr. Foster advised the United States Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Commerce, on United States' bilateral and multilateral international trade agreements, attending WTO meetings with U.S. representatives. President Obama's Commerce Secretary Locke stated of Mr. Foster: "Your industry expertise is critical to the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative in pursuing trade objectives reflecting concerns of the private sector."

Hailing from an equally accomplished academic background, Mr. Foster earned his Bachelor of Arts in Classics and Religion from Alma College in 1970, benefiting from its rigorous liberal arts curriculum and close engagement with faculty members. He completed a Master of Arts in Theology at University of California, Berkeley in 1972, before obtaining his Japanese Language Certificate at Berkeley and the Stanford Center in Tokyo. After seminary he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation internship at the World Council of Churches in Geneva, as well as a Ford Foundation fellowship grant —a transformative experience enabling him to live and work in Japan for the Japan Christian Council during the period of Japan's rapid economic growth — thus fueling his interest in international commerce, law and policy.

Inspired by having lived and worked in Switzerland and Japan, Mr. Foster focused on a career in international law and business. He obtained his Juris Doctor from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1981 — enabling him to embark on his distinguished legal and international business career.

Mr. Foster is admitted to practice before state and federal courts in Oregon and California, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Court of International Trade.

An accomplished author and public speaker, Mr. Foster has authored books on Japan's regulatory system governing mandatory product technical standards and government certification procedures under World Trade Organization rules. He has penned articles addressing US high technology industries and Japanese law and politics in professional journals. He served as Chairman of the 1066 Foundation of the University of California Hastings Law School.

Reflecting on his storied journey, Mr. Foster attributes his success primarily to highly focused hard work — a principle he considers essential regardless of one's profession or circumstance. Having traveled nearly 4 million miles throughout his career, he acknowledges that perseverance has played a central role in achieving his goals.

Mr. Foster's achievements have seen him recognized early for his outstanding impact. He was selected for inclusion in Who's Who in Finance and Industry in 1989.

Looking to the future, Mr. Foster is working with management and board members of clients such as SafeInHome.com — providing person-centered solutions to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they can live independently, and PixoVR.com— providing its virtual reality training platform for global human resources. He has launched the Mark Foster Family Foundation and plans to explore additional opportunities for government service — demonstrating his enduring commitment to a well-rounded career and contributing meaningfully through his work.

Please visit: www.markfoster.com

About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.

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