Tom is an expert on skills and workforce development in food and agriculture with a current focus on pesticide and food safety education and training at a national scale. Previous efforts focused on national and international standards and entrepreneurship with expertise in designing and enhancing multi-sector collaboration to develop training and education.

Prior to MSU he worked as an experienced executive for both non-profit and private sector businesses. Served as a commodity executive and interfaced with other Michigan commodity executives, state and local government, and MSU faculty and administration on a regular basis. Owned and operated two private sector businesses, including a tech transfer company working to commercialize automotive biocomposites.