Tom Doe ’71 sees mentoring geology students as partial repayment of his debt to the Pomona community.
Tom Doe ’71 and his wife Paula Nold Doe ’71 met during college.
Read about 2024 Alumni Distinguished Service Award winner Tom Doe ’71, the final story in our "A Closer Look" summer series, featuring 2024 Alumni Award winners. Doe was honored along with fellow award recipients at Alumni Weekend this past spring.
When pandemic campus closures shifted the in-person Class of 1971’s 50th Reunion, many jumped in to create a highly successful virtual event. Among the dedicated members of the reunion committee who generously gave their time and resources, Tom Doe ’71 went the extra mile. Doe created three class newsletters, promoted the virtual event, worked on reunion giving and programming and created an “In Memoriam” video celebrating every member of the class that had passed away.
Over a span of decades Doe has maintained a strong relationship with Pomona’s Geology Department through student mentoring and personally funded internships during the summer after COVID-19 closed the campus. These ties were facilitated by the annual Woodford-Eckis Lectureship, which is named for the department’s founder A.O. Woodford 1913 and endowed by Rollin Eckis 1927, and has provided an exemplary catalyst for fostering alumni-student connections.
Doe sees student mentoring as partial repayment of his debt to the Pomona community, which included not only faculty, like Donald McIntyre, Donald Zenger and Alex Baird ’54, but also alumni and friends, like Douglas Morton and Thane McCullough ’49. Doe is particularly proud of his 2019 walking guide to campus geology and his Woodford-Eckis lecture alumni connections over the years for the department’s 2023 centennial celebration.
Doe also met his future spouse at Pomona. He and Paula Nold Doe ’71 married the summer following their graduation, and together, they went on to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Doe completed his Ph.D. in Geology and Mineral Engineering and Paula completed her Ph.D. there in Japanese Literature.
Doe’s professional focus has been fluid flow through rock fractures working at national laboratories and in consulting. His applications include groundwater protection, oil development, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. He has taught at the University of Washington, 鶹ý and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now mostly retired, he serves on an advisory group for the Department of Energy’s geothermal research. Several years ago, Doe revived an interest in classical guitar and lute, which began through scholarship-funded programs at Pomona. He is also a proud member of the Granite & Sagebrush Society.