2009 Distinguished Service Alumni Award

Thomas V. Zug Jr. ’68

For Tom Zug ’68, serving Dickinson College is a family affair. The fifth-generation Dickinsonian admits that he has been a class chair, reunion volunteer and Alumni Council member in part because of the example of his late father, Tom Zug ’33, a former college trustee who received the Distinguished Service Award in 1996.

“Part of it is just family history,” he says. “But part of it is also that Dickinson opened a lot of doors for me, and I think it can do that for a lot of other people.”

Those doors led Zug to officer candidate school in the U.S. Navy, after which he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Today he manages a successful investment partnership with his brother. A history major who took many economics courses, Zug attributes much of his success to his Dickinson classes but notes that his experiences outside the classroom were equally important.

“One of the great things about Dickinson is that it’s small enough that you can participate in an awful lot of activities,” he says. And that’s exactly what Zug did, becoming president of the D Club, president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, co-captain of the soccer team and a member of three conference-championship swimming teams, while also participating in the college choir, The Dickinsonian and the glee club. “You learn a lot in your classes, but you also learn a lot outside class, in your fraternity, in leadership positions or on the athletics field.”

In addition to his volunteer activities, Zug has helped the college “open doors” for others by teaming with family members to endow a scholarship in his father’s and uncles’ names and then establishing one in his own name as well. His hope is that scholarship recipients who are able also will give back to the school one day.

 “We hope that we can really get a ball rolling that will benefit a lot of people in the future,” he says.
Of all his work with the college, Zug has most enjoyed his six years on the Alumni Council, which included time as chair of the development committee. “I really enjoyed that because it gets you back on campus frequently,” he says. “It gets you in touch with the students, and I must say I’ve been extremely impressed with the caliber of today’s students.”

In addition to his volunteer work for the college, Zug is the president of the Gladwyne Volunteer Fire Company and is active in his church and several civic organizations in the Gladwyne, Pa., area. He has one daughter, Holly, who graduated from Syracuse University. When not working or volunteering, Zug enjoys exercise, tennis and golf.