About Gary Thomas

In memory of Gary Thomas, honorary member.

BSEE 1960, University of California at Berkeley
MS Physics 1962, University of California at Berkeley
PhDEE and Comp Sci 1967, University of California at Berkeley

Gary served in several academic and administrative posts at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Those posts included chair of electrical engineering, associate dean of the graduate school, and chair for the Energy Technology Laboratory. He also was given a gubernatorial appointment to the Student Assistance Board of the state of New Jersey, and was a member of the Licensure Approval and Accreditation Board for the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. They Gary became a member of the electrical engineering faculty at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He served as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at NJIT from 1990 to 1998. While at NJIT, Thomas held several other administrative positions, including vice president for academic affairs, a post he held from 1980 to 1990. Also while at NJIT, he helped form the school's College of Science and Liberal Arts (where he served as the first dean), the School of Management, and the Dorman Honors College. Gary joined UMR in September 2000. Shortly after arriving on the UMR campus, Thomas devoted his time and energy toward turning around UMR's declining enrollment as well as toward increasing funding for research programs and increasing funding from private sources. Gary retired in August 2005.