Read more about 2024 Award for outstanding achievements of alumni Winner Tom Doe ’71, the final story in our summer series “A Closer Look,” which profiles the 2024 alumni honorees. Doe was honored along with other honorees at Alumni Weekend last spring.

When the Class of 1971’s 50th reunion could not take place in person due to pandemic-related campus closures, many helped organize a highly successful virtual event. Among dedicated reunion committee members who generously gave of their time and resources, Tom Doe ’71 went the extra mile. Doe created three class newsletters, promoted the virtual event, worked on fundraising and reunion programming, and created an “In Memoriam” video honoring each deceased member of the class.

For decades, Doe maintained a close relationship with Pomona’s geology department through mentoring students and personally funded summer internships after the campus closed due to COVID-19. These connections were fostered by the annual Woodford-Eckis Lecture, named for the department’s founder, A.O. Woodford (1913), and endowed by Rollin Eckis (1927), which was an exemplary catalyst for fostering connections between alumni and students.

Doe views mentoring students as a partial repayment of his debt to the Pomona community, which has included not only faculty members such as Donald McIntyre, Donald Zenger, and Alex Baird (class of 1954), but also alumni and friends such as Douglas Morton and Thane McCullough (class of 1949). Doe is especially proud of his 2019 walking guide to campus geology and his connections with alumni of the Woodford-Eckis Lecture over the years for the department’s centennial celebration in 2023.

Doe also met his future wife at Pomona. He and Paula Nold Doe (1971 graduate) married the summer after graduation and went to graduate school together at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Doe completed his Ph.D. in geology and mineral engineering and Paula completed her Ph.D. in Japanese literature.

Doe has focused his career on fluid flow through rock fractures, working in national laboratories and as a consultant. His areas of application include groundwater protection, oil production, hydropower, and geothermal energy. He has taught at the University of Washington, Pomona College, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now mostly retired, he is a member of an advisory group for geothermal research for the Department of Energy. Several years ago, Doe rediscovered his interest in classical guitar and lute, which began through fellowship programs at Pomona. He is also a proud member of the Granite & Sagebrush Society.