RIT Grad and Veteran to Speak at RIT Veterans Day Breakfast | October 2021
Thomas L. Peeples ’94, MS ‘03 will deliver the keynote address at the 10th annual RIT Veterans Day Breakfast November 11, 2021. It will be held in-person this year at Gordon Field House from 8 am to 10 am.
Peeples is the Sr. Manager of Lean Operations, Americas at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. In this role, he has responsibility for Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, the Quality Management System and Business Continuity Planning, in the Goodyear Innovation Center in Akron, Ohio. He is also Adjunct Faculty at RIT in the College of Engineering Technology.
As a student at RIT, Peeples took part in the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC). He was commissioned an Ensign in the US Navy after graduation and was onboard the USS Fletcher (DD-922) and the USS Hewitt (DD-966) working in various Surface Warfare roles. Today he continues to serve, in uniform, as the Operations Officer of the Ohio Navy.
He majored in mechanical engineering and earned a master of science in Cross-Disciplinary Professional Studies (Quality and Statistics) at RIT but didn’t spend all of his time in the classroom. He excelled in track, is a 5-time NCAA All-American and was inducted into the RIT Sports Hall of Fame.
Peeples says he is honored and humbled to return to RIT as the keynote speaker for Veterans Day.
“I love RIT. I loved the time I spent at RIT. I love the time I get to come back to RIT. Being a speaker is going to give me the platform to share some of the experiences that I had as a veteran (and beyond). But more importantly, participate in paying tribute, with my Tiger family, to the men and women, mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters that raised their right hand and swore an oath to defend the constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic. Or maybe, I just miss the bricks.”
The theme for this year’s Veterans Day Breakfast is “We are Safe and Secure Because of You.”
The event is subject to any changes by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and New York State guidelines pending COVID-19 rules and requirements. Stay up to date by checking the RIT Safety Plan.