Family, friends and former students of Dr. Thomas S. Hooyer
The Fund is established in honor and memory of former Associate Professor Thomas S. Hooyer (1963-2016), who served the faculty of the UWM Department of Geosciences from 2009-2014.
Tom received his PhD in geology and geophysics from Iowa State University in 1999, and shortly after joined the Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey of Madison, where he mapped glacial deposits and landforms created by the last great ice sheet to cover North America. In 2009, Tom became an Associate Professor of Geology at UWM where he researched glacier erosion and deformation beneath ice sheets, and the Quaternary history of Wisconsin.
Tom was diagnosed with ALS in spring 2014 and passed away two years later at the age of 52. Tom was married to Anne Medeiros and was the father of two beautiful children, Nieve and Nolan.
Impact
In 2015, one of Tom’s students embarked on an incredible journey to raise awareness of ALS and honor him through a scholarship. James Amato (BS ‘15, MS ‘17 Geosciences) hiked 500+ miles of the Pacific Crest Trail through the high Sierras. He raised $12,000 and kickstarted the effort generating the gifts to endow this Fund which will continue to support UWM geosciences students for years to come.