Tom has been coming to the Vineyard for over thirty years, deciding to move to the island permanently in 2000 to raise his son, Kiric. Tom has worked as a university professor for over twenty years, teaching courses in communication sciences & disorders, inclusive education policy and social justice. He also worked as a policy consultant for the Commonwealth’s Department of Public Health and MassHealth. In his community, Tom serves as a Dukes County Commissioner overseeing county government on the Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. Tom has degrees from Geneseo (B.S.), The Ohio State University (M.A), Harvard University (M.Ed.) and Boston University (Sc.D.). Tom has a long history of involvement with numerous non-profits on and off the island, doing work in the areas of youth engagement, substance abuse, mental health, AIDS, health care policy, equity/access to education and the arts. He serves on the board of directors for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Rockville, MD and is Chair of the Vineyard Youth Tennis Parent Advisory Committee. He is a member of a number of NGOs doing work in the areas of inclusive education & disability rights in Cambodia and South Africa. Tom presents and publishes extensively within his profession and is a recipient of a number of state and national awards. He is a Harvard University CASE Fellow and Fulbright Scholar.
Thomas Jude Hallahan
