Originally hailing from the New York/New Jersey area, Tom is currently a second year graduate student at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., concentrating in China Studies.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Tom served in the U.S. Army for six years - five of which were spent in Europe - prior to attending SAIS. His European experiences ranged from peacekeeping in the war-torn areas of the Balkans to sailing the Greek Isles; from snowboarding in the Swiss Alps to surfing along the northern coast of France; and from learning flamenco guitar in Sevilla, to clubbing until sunrise on the beaches of Ibiza. During those years, however, Tom was never able to travel to where he really wanted to go: Asia.

Having spoken Mandarin at home while growing up, Tom realized that his Chinese language ability (and proper English skills, for that matter) had dwindled considerably when he returned to the U.S. after his tours of duty in Europe and the Army.

Entering SAIS, eager to refresh his Chinese language ability and acquire a working knowledge of Greater China, Tom embarked on a self-prescribed crash course on China and Asia: first departing for Taiwan in March 2004 to observe Taiwan's presidential elections, then returning to Taipei during the summer - when he attended his first ORIENTED event - as an intern at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to work on commerce-related issues, and finally traveling to Nanjing, China to study at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

Now back in the U.S., Tom is excited at the opportunity to utilize his familiarity of DC's Happy Hours and his still-growing comprehension of the Greater China region to take part in creating networking opportunities and organizing a community of ORIENTED-like individuals in the DC area.