The Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship is pleased to welcome Thomas Swartwood to Iowa State University.  Tom’s first day will be Wednesday, August 15.

Tom will be teaching the applied entrepreneurship course in the Ivy College of Business and will be on staff at the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship developing new program offerings for students across campus and entrepreneurs in our community.

For the past decade, Tom has taught entrepreneurship courses and developed entrepreneurial programming at Drake University, most recently serving as the Assistant Director of their John and Mary Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Buchanan Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

While at Drake, Tom developed and taught a number of entrepreneurship courses across campus, led the Lorentzen Hatchery, a summer student accelerator program, created and launched a Startup Bootcamp for Women, and developed the John & Mary Pappajohn Innovation Studio, a cross-campus, multi-disciplinary program to foster greater innovation on Drake’s campus.

A life-long learner, Tom has taught courses for a number of universities and colleges, including New York University’s graduate program, Simpson College, DMAAC, Georgetown Law Center, and Dartmouth College.  Tom has pursued international educational opportunities and conducted classes and workshops with the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Mandela Fellows, Tecnologico de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Makerere University Business School in Kampala, Uganda.

Tom previously served as the managing director and consultant of a private investment banking firm, was president and director at Dickinson & Company, a stock brokerage and investment banking firm in Des Moines, IA.  He practiced corporate law at Reavis & McGrath,  in New York, NY. He has served as a member of the board of directors of numerous public and private companies, and is Chairman of the Board of Station One Records, a non-profit record company in Des Moines, IA. He also has been involved as founder or advisor for a number of startup companies.

Tom received his B.A. in history from Dartmouth College, an M.B.A. from Drake University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

We are excited to have Tom join the team as we continue to grow and expand entrepreneurship at Iowa State!

Judi Eyles, Director of the ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship