Tom began to build his business skills through classes and extracurricular activities. His formal knowledge of economics began with courses taught by professors such as Ken McCormick, Janet Rives and Fred Abraham. In their courses, he learned about price discovery, how supply and demand works and other fundamentals that he would later use in his career.

In 1985, Tom traveled to London and Paris with the UNI Economics Club. During this trip, the group went to the London Stock Exchange, a European Economic Committee meeting and the Renault car factory in Paris where they got to see a roll of steel become a car. Seeing foreign economies in action gave Tom a much broader global perspective, important to his understanding of all markets.

Armed with his experiences as a UNI Economics major, Tom stepped into an exciting career at the Chicago Board of Trade. But, he needed to develop additional skills.

“In the pit you have to learn under fire as you look and listen to the action,” he said.

Tom began his career as a runner who takes phone orders from a clerk. He then became a clerk positioned outside of the trading pit, where deals are made. After his stint as a clerk, he worked his way to broker assistant. His training for this role focused on learning how to be successful communicating and making deals on the trading pit. In the organized chaos of a trading floor, staying focused meant getting past the deluge of yells and shouts.

“There isn’t time to worry about the noise because you have to stay calm when everyone’s yelling at you,” he said. “You have to learn under fire as you look and listen to the action.”

Using his economics background and personal experiences, Tom traded US Treasury bond futures at the Chicago Board of Trade. A bond future is an instrument issued by the government to pay for anything the government needs to buy or fund, such as highways and wars.

“You can trade from one contract to a thousand, and each bond has a value of $100,000,” he said. At the end of the day, Tom would make $1 per contract.

After working his way up to a full-fledged floor trader, he started his own brokerage with seven customers. His biggest client was in the process of becoming the largest trader on the floor, and he asked Tom to work solely for him. After considering his options, Tom dropped his other clients and focused on one client.

Today, he looks back and he’s surprised at the choice he made for his career.

“If someone had told me that I would be doing this, I would have thought ‘no way,’” he said.

In classes and activities, Tom became acquainted with the ideas he would need in the business world. The drive and focus that made him a powerful force in the trading pit were developed not only from his intensive classwork, but also from the time he spent training with the UNI Tae Kwon Do Club. His instructor, Master Joseph Philip, has been with UNI for almost 30 years.

“The discipline I learned and how to stand up for what’s right helped to prepare me for success,” he said. “His influence was a big part of my success in Chicago.”

Since returning to Cedar Falls, Tom has begun training again with the UNI Tae Kwon Do Club. He is now retired and is focused on his investments, while considering the job market. But the time he spent as a trader continues to be a great memory for Tom.

“It was an awesome experience,” he said. “Every minute was something new.”