Biography:

Born in Chicago to Scottish immigrants, Tom developed early on how to “squeeze every penny out of a dollar”, as his mother use to say, in order to make ends meet.

As a child and teen, Tom grew up in Oak Park. By age 12, Tom took on a paper route to earn some money to help the family. By age 16 while attending Oak Park high school; he was working part-time after school and weekends to subside the family income. By 21, after attending Triton Jr College, Tom was working full-time as a computer programmer. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management going to night school will continuing to work full-time during the day. All the while paying his own way and tuition so as to help the family.

After obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree, Tom continued working full-time and set his sights on obtaining a high ranking position in the Information Technology (IT) field. His hard work and dedication, helped him attain that goal by age 27, running a major organizations IT department with a large staff and multi-million dollar budget.

From there Tom focused on creating the most efficient department possible, continuing with the philosophy his mother instilled in him of “squeezing every penny out of every dollar”.

Having attained his business goals, Tom turned his attention to giving back to his adopted community of Schaumburg having settled here in 1982. He became involved in volunteering in his neighborhood association and local government. A list of some of his current and past government experiences is as follows:

• Village Trustee 1989-2009 and again from 2014-current
• Chairman of the Village’s Transportation Committee
• Member of the Village’s Finance Committee
• Member of the Village’s Engineering & Public Works Committee
• Chairman of the Schaumburg Regional Airport Advisory Commission
• Former Zoning Board of Appeals Member
• Past President of Homeowners Association
• Former Member of the Prairie Center for the Arts Foundation
• Past Board Member of New Sprit Credit Union
• Past member of Association Forum’s Technology Committee

Tom currently works for the Village of Franklin Park still doing what he loves, running an IT department as Director of Information Technology.

But he also loves Schaumburg and wants to continue to maintain the high quality of life that residents have come to enjoy. This will take dedication, vision, and the experience that Tom possesses from years of being involved in village government (or say, “being on the Village Board.).

Tom has faced challenges all his life but he has always worked hard and been persistent. He has a saying in his office that says, “Persistence is the ability to move mountains, one grain of sand at a time”. Tom believes in that fully.