Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-Thomas C. Leamer was born in a Pennsylvania town more than 750 miles from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he matriculated in 1960. Due to the distance and his participation on the school wrestling team, as well as his job on the Pioneer Farm, he was unable to return home during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Yet, there would prove to be a silver lining to his unfortunate situation, in that the extra time he spent on the UWP campus with UWP staff members would help to endear the institution to him in future years. Leamer graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural education in 1964.

He continued onto graduate level study at UWP while teaching agricultural and industrial arts at Bloomington High School through 1965. Then, Leamer took a position at Platteville High School, instructing students in agriculture, advising the Future Farmers of America club, coaching members of the wrestling team, and training UWP student teachers. In 1967, he earned a Master of Science and after remaining at Platteville High through its school year ending in 1968, Leamer became a graduate assistant at Pennsylvania State University. In 1972, he earned a D.Ed. degree from PSU, gaining the title of doctor.

By 1974, he had risen to the level of department chair in the agricultural department of the State University of New York-Cobleskill, having previously been a professor of plant science. These appoints marked the beginning of Leamer's preeminence in the SUNY system. He went on to serve as dean of students at SUNY-Alfred and twice was the acting president of SUNY-Morrisville. Later, he was promoted to vice and then executive vice president of the university.

In 1997, Leamer was named President of Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Penn., a private college of approximately 1,600 students. During the decade Leamer held the position, enrollment at the university increased some 15 percent; the undergraduate program was revamped, strengthened; more stringent admissions criteria were set, increasing the number of highly qualified students in matriculation, and $10 million was raised through generous contributions for the development of newer facilities and various campus improvements. Additionally, DelVal regained its top 25 position in the "US News & World Report" annual ranking of northern comprehensive colleges. Leamer is regarded as the catalyst that drove these changes. His accomplishments at the university are featured in detail in the spring 2007 issue of "Horizons" magazine, a publication of DelVal College, of which he appears on the cover. Leamer retired the same year and is widely believed to have left an indelible impression upon the school. For this reason, an endowed scholarship was established at the college for Thomas C. Leamer and, his wife Susan B. Leamer.

Thomas, or Tom as family and friends know him, has received numerous awards and recognition for his knowledge of agricultural matters. He was recognized for outstanding service to the Collegiate Agricultural Leaders during his time at both SUNY-Cobleskill and SUNY-Alfred and was nominated for the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Services.

Leamer has was also selected Outstanding Administrator of the Year and named an Honorary Member of the Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society at SUNY-Morrisville. Additionally, Leamer has been requested as a quest speaker on a multitude of occasions.

Still more of his accomplishments include being elected to the Armsby Honor Society at PSU in 2006 and having been named an outstanding alumnus of PSU the previous year. Leamer is also an Honorary Member of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity and has served on several committees, including the Board of Directors for the Middle Atlantic Athletic Conference as chair and vice chair, the Education Committee for Syracuse University Center for Advanced Technology and as an institutional representative for the Cub Scouts.

In his free time, Leamer divides his attention between a myriad of activities, coaching Little League baseball, umpiring Cinderella softball games, proceedings of the Alleghany County Professional Agricultural Organization, and the Madison County Task Force for Economic Development, to name only a small fraction.

His connections with UWP remain deeply rooted and are expressed by his lifetime membership to the UW-Platteville Alumni Association. He gives generously and frequently to the UWP Foundation, while also being what nominator, Roger Higgs describes as an "unabashed vocal supporter" of UWP, who frequently iterates that he received more than a degree, but rather an education from his alma mater.

Written by: Sunshine Street, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, streetsu@uwplatt.edu