A New Board Chair for Swarthmore

At the May Board of Managers meeting, Rhonda Resnick Cohen ’76, chair of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee, announced the selection of Tom Spock ’78 as the new chair. Like his predecessor Gil Kemp ’72, Spock, a respected sports and media executive and founding partner of Scalia Media LLC, will serve a three-year term. 

“Tom’s longstanding and deep connections to the College and his numerous leadership roles on the Board make him an ideal person to lead the Board these next few years,” Cohen says.

A Board member since 1997, Spock has chaired the Finance Committee and Swarthmore’s Presidential Search Committee in 2008–2009. He has most recently served as chair of the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee.

Spock will lead the Board in its fiduciary and oversight responsibilities, working closely with new President Valerie Smith as she sets the College’s direction and priorities, including increasing financial aid and access.

“I am deeply honored to be selected as Swarthmore’s next Board chair and to step into the role so capably filled by Gil, who will remain a key member of the Board’s leadership,” says Spock. “I look forward to working with my fellow alumni, students, faculty, staff, and the College leadership to ensure that Swarthmore provides the very best, most intellectually rigorous undergraduate liberal arts and engineering education, while continuing to expand its accessibility to all qualified students. I know that President Smith intends to make this a priority, and the Board will be a full partner with her toward that end.”  

Spock’s ties to Swarthmore predate his arrival as a student. He was born to Bill Spock ’51 and the late Betty Daugherty Spock ’52 and was raised by his father and stepmother, Patricia E. Spock. He graduated from Nether Providence High School, now known as Strath Haven.

Spock earned a B.A. with honors in economics and minors in history and art history from Swarthmore and an MBA from Stanford. At Swarthmore, he played four years of varsity soccer, including playing in the 1974 NCAA Division III National Championship game.    

Like his father, Spock received the Ivy Award at Swarthmore’s Commencement, given to the outstanding man in the graduating class. Spock and his father are the only father-son duo to be so honored.

Spock lives in Larchmont, N.Y. He and his wife, Linda, have one grown son, Randy.