Mark W. Buyck, III is a native of Florence although he was born in Istanbul, Turkey, while his parents were living abroad and his father was serving as a military Judge Advocate. He graduated from Washington & Lee University with a B.A. in 1983 and thereafter worked for two years on Capitol Hill in Washington in various law-related capacities. He returned to South Carolina and graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law with a J.D. in 1988. While in law school he was a member of Delta Theta Phi and the Palmetto Legal Society.

He is a member of the U.S.C. Board of Visitors and President of the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation.

He is a member of the Florence County, South Carolina, and American Bar Associations, Labor and Employment Law Section, South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association, Defense Research Institute, Washington & Lee and USC Alumni Associations. He is the former Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of South Carolina Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities and served as chairman of the Grievance Committee. Mark is a popular speaker on employment related issues.

Mark is Treasurer of the Florence Heritage Foundation and Chairman of the Board of the Friends of the Florence Stockade, a national organization devoted to research and preservation of the Florence Stockade. Buyck is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Florence Chamber of Commerce and past General Counsel. He is a Director of the Florence-Darlington Technical College Foundation, Past Chairman of Florence City/County Civic Center Commission, the Palmetto Chapter Washington & Lee Alumni Association, Past President of the Florence Rotary Club, and a member of the Coker College Board of Visitors. In 1996 and 2000 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention and is former Chairman of the Florence County GOP.