Tom, born and bred in America's Detroit and educated in Chicago, somehow took a detour to Hong Kong in 1994 and never quite made it back to the States. In the meantime, he has become one of Asia's most respected advertising minds. His unique combination of pan-Asian work, plus nine years based in China, has made him a leading expert in the cross-border management of brand architecture and brand building. Furthermore, he is a passionate advocate of the iron link between brand equity and long-term profitability.

Tom completed his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) in 1985 and his MBA at the University of Chicago in 1989.

Having started his advertising career at Leo Burnett (Chicago) in 1989, Tom jumped ship and joined JWT Chicago in 1992. In 1994, Tom moved to Hong Kong as Regional Business Director, managing several of JWT's largest multinational clients across Asia Pacific (including Pepsi, Philip Morris/Kraft and Citibank). In 1998, he landed in China as the Managing Director of JWT Shanghai, an agency that is now recognized by the marketing and communications industry as one of the finest on the Mainland. In 2002, he was appointed Northeast Asia Area Director (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea) and Greater China CEO.