A native of St. Louis, Tom earned his B.S. in Accounting in 1970 from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

He joined Peat Marwick Mitchell (now known as KPMG) immediately after graduation. After passing the CPA exam, he reported for duty to the U.S. Army and served from 1971 to 1972.

Tom returned to PMM in early 1973. In 1978, he was recruited by the May Company to be the Vice President of Finance and its wholly owned subsidiary, May Centers. This was the beginning of a 40-year career in the real estate business. During this time, Tom had been an employee and co-owner of projects at The White Company and TriStar.

Tom has been a partner in various projects with Larry Chapman for over 20 over years.