Tom earned a BA in political science from Iowa State University in 1979 and a PhD in political science from The University of Iowa in 1983. He was on faculty in political science at the University of Vermont from 1983 to 1996, Iowa State University from 1996 to 1999, the University of Northern Iowa from 1999 to 2003, and The University of Iowa from 2003 to the present.

His administrative experience includes service as department chair at Vermont, Northern Iowa, and Iowa. He also served as an administrative fellow in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa in 2008 and 2009 and as the associate provost for faculty at Iowa from 2010 to 2014. Most recently, he was the academic director of the University of Iowa John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Publications:

• Civic Service: Service Learning with Government Partners, Jossey-Bass (with D. Redlawsk, 2009).
• “The Correlates of Community Attractiveness,” Environment and Behavior (with V. Lekwa and M. Hibbing, 2007).
• “The Condition of Community Streets and Parks: A Comparison of Resident and Nonresident Evaluations,” Public Administration Review (with M. Licari and W. McLean, 2005).
• “Social Capital and Government Performance in Iowa Communities,” Journal of Urban Affairs (2001).
• “Civic Culture and Democracy from Europe to America,” Journal of Politics (with J. L. Feldman, 1997).
• “Forecasting Elections,” Congressional Quarterly Press (with M. S. Lewis-Beck, 1992).
• “Presidential Prenomination Preferences and Candidate Evaluations,” American Political Science Review (with P. Kenney, 1988).