MISHAWAKA, Ind. – Marty McKiernan has been named executive director of Camp Fire USA River Bend Council.

He will be in charge of council-wide operations that include Camp Fire Club groups, Camp Tannadoonah on Birch Lake in Vandalia and Camp Tawanchi, a summer day camp in Mishawaka’s Merrifield Park.

This summer, the local Camp Fire council is planning several activities in observance of its 90th anniversary and the centennial of Camp Fire USA.

Knute Rockne and Col. Seymour Bullock founded the local council in 1920.

In 1975, the organization became co-ed, serving boys as well as girls.

“Marty has been deeply immersed in Camp Fire activities for more than three years, as an active member of our board of directors, where he took leadership roles in a fundraising campaign and other fiscal matters crucial to our success,” board President Chas Grundy said Tuesday.

“In addition, Marty is an active supporter of youth development programs, and has run youth soccer programs in Niles and Lafayette, Ind.

“Above all, he brings management experience to the job, having served as a senior finance manager and in other management positions for Amgen Inc., the international biotechnology giant headquartered in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

McKiernan joined Amgen in 1987 as a research associate in bacterial vector development after earning a bachelor of science degree in biology from Purdue University, West Lafayette, and serving two years as a research technician at Purdue’s Botany Laboratories.

While working at Amgen, Marty also earned his MBA degree from UCLA.

He advanced up the rapidly-growing organization to production management, where he successfully launched start-up operations for Amgen’s multi-product clinical purification suites.

McKiernan is a native of South Bend and graduate of John Adams high school. He now resides in Niles with his wife, Yoon Hi, and two sons.