Tom has been involved with exercise, fitness, and health promotion most of his life. Participating in high school and college athletics led to a college degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation followed by a five-year stint as a high school health/physical education teacher and coach. During his teaching tenure, Tom got interested in physical education for people with disabilities, which led to a degree in Physical Therapy (PT) from Mayo Clinic. Shortly after starting a 42-year PT career at Mayo, he began living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Because of the desire to maintain a high level of fitness, Tom developed personal exercise regimens and became involved with wheelchair sport activities commensurate with my level of disability. He also began volunteering with the MS Society locally teaching people how to exercise, leading self-help groups, and serving on boards and committees all of which eventually expanded to national levels of involvement. For over 4 decades he has combined a physical therapy background with his MS experiences to encourage other people with MS to exercise and develop healthy living solutions. Volunteering with EA is fulfilling a 60-year desire to help all people reach their optimal level of “therapeutic health!”
