Jacob Day

Prior to his nomination to lead the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development under Governor Wes Moore, Secretary Jacob R. Day served as the 28th Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland. Born and raised in Salisbury, he previously served as City Council President. His tenure as Mayor was marked by a resurgent downtown, including nearly $650 million in new construction, the establishment of two youth community centers, and the creation of a permanent supportive housing program to address chronic homelessness. Secretary Day also previously worked for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy as Director of the Center for Towns, utilizing design, planning, and development assistance to establish vibrant, sustainable small cities and towns. He served as national president of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and as editor-in-chief of CRIT, a journal of architecture. He was also elected 79th president of the Maryland Municipal League, representing Maryland’s 157 municipalities, and was one of Maryland’s representatives to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Local Government Advisory Committee. A U.S. Army Major, Secretary Day is a Cavalry, Information Operations, and Special Technical Operations Officer assigned to Special Operations Detachment-NATO. He is a veteran of the Global War on Terrorism and was deployed to Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti. Secretary Day earned a Master of Science in Nature, Society & Environmental Policy from Oxford University. He also earned a Master of Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Maryland. He is the proud father to two beautiful daughters, Lilly and Olivia.