Tom Looney
Chair, State Board of Community Colleges
Bio
Tom’s career in IT spanned over 40 years at IBM and Lenovo, retiring as VP and GM of North America for Lenovo. Since retiring he has worked with two AI startups, Trill AI and Merlyn Mind. He currently serves on the boards of the NC Community College System and the NC Coastal Federation.
He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Wake Tech Community College, focusing on securing IT employer’s support to “take ownership” for the new RTP campus and its students’ success. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the NC School of Science and Math focusing on programs to deliver STEM education to every county in the state thru summer programs, online and IVC studios. In addition, he served on the NC Economic Development Board that created the Economic Development Partnership of NC (private/public partnership) and went on to serve on the EDPNC board as chair of business recruitment. He served as Chair for the CS4NC initiative to secure support in the business community for CS in MS and HS and served on the committee that developed NC’s computer science standards.