Tom Leonard

Beavercreek City Council appointed Thomas Leonard on January 31, 2005 to fill the Council seat vacated by Richard Perales, who was elected to Greene County Commission.
    A position as program manager at the University of Dayton Research Institute (URDI) brought Tom to Dayton in 1978.  He chose to live in Beavercreek because of similarities to the small Village of Fruitport , Michigan where he was raised.  Moving to Beavercreek was a choice, he says, “that I never regretted.  Beavercreek has been good to me and my children through the years.”
    In 1972 Tom received a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering (plasma physics) from the University of Michigan .  He worked on a privately funded thermonuclear fusion program in Ann Arbor before moving to Ohio.  After leaving UDRI, he worked for several aerospace companies, including Ball Aerospace where he served as a consultant to the Air Force on laser hardening and space-based optics during the “Strategic Defense Initiative” days.  In 1989, he started his own company where he served as a consultant to the Navy and Air Force on infrared optical instrumentation.  Although he claims to be “semi-retired,” he still maintains an optical and electronics laboratory at the Russ Research Center on Indian Ripple Road where he enjoys building things as diverse as foaling monitors to hydraulic load scales to sub-micron gold grids.
    Tom is an instrument-rated commercial pilot.  He enjoys fishing, hunting, outdoors, and flying.  He is looking forward to a successful tenure on City Council and welcomes comments from all Beavercreek residents.