Thomas  Loper , EdD

Interim Dean, School of Management & Social Justice; Chair, Business Department; Associate Professor of Management

Department: School of Management and Social Justice

Degrees

BS, State of University New York; EdD, University of Massachusetts

Contact

Phone: 413.565.1067
Email: tloper@baypath.edu

Profile

Dr. Tom Loper has returned to his roots in education after a twenty year career in the Fortune 500 world followed by a decade of entrepreneurial success in Western Massachusetts.

Dr. Loper’s early career in education included four years as a Human Resource Management Specialist for the U.S. Navy. In this capacity he developed and conducted race relations education and management training programs in Rota, Spain, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and numerous Human Resource Development Centers across the continental United States.

Capitalizing on his training and consulting experience in the Navy, Dr. Loper completed his doctorate in education with a focus on organization development, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, in 1980. In this same year, he became Director of Human Resource Planning and Development for Dennison Manufacturing, Inc., Waltham, MA. While there he developed and conducted sales training, management development programs and participated in a wide range of organization development interventions.

Recognized within Dennison for his leadership and management skills, Dr. Loper was encouraged to serve in a variety of sales, marketing, and operations executive level assignments. After fifteen years with Dennison, Dr. Loper served as President of Business Interiors, Boston, MA; as a corporate VP with Herman Miller, Inc., Holland, MI; and a senior VP with Lifeline Systems, Inc., Framingham, MA.

In 2000 Dr. Loper and three colleagues started Kleer Lumber, Inc., Westfield, MA, now a nationally recognized manufacturer of PVC sheet stock. In 2005, he left Kleer to start up NuCedar Mills, Inc., Chicopee, MA, where he developed seven patented processes for milling and coating the types of PVC sheet stock manufactured at Kleer. In 2011, Dr. Loper sold his interest in NuCedar to Jain (Americas), Mumbai, India.

After a number of years on Bay Path’s Innovator’s Roundtable, Dr. Loper decided to follow his heart back into the classroom. Dr. Loper and his wife, Kit, have lived in Wilbraham, MA, in the same home where they raised their four children and now entertain their grandchildren as often as possible.