Tom Frooninckx is the Managing Director of the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, one of 10 colleges at Purdue University.  His responsibilities include a variety of activities related to the transformation and day-to-day operations of the college, including strategic planning, facility and space management, capital projects, data analysis and reports, communications, and other initiatives assigned by the Dean.  He also frequently serves as a course instructor. 

Tom earned a B.S. in Aeronautics from Saint Louis University, an M.S. in Space Physics from Utah State University, and an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School at the National Defense University.  He is a 28-year veteran of the United States Air Force and completed his military career as commander of the Air Force ROTC unit at Purdue, leading the organization to be named the #1 program in the nation in 2010.  Tom then worked as a Senior Systems Engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for two years before returning to Purdue in 2014 in his current role.  He served as Interim Head of the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology from 2020-2021.  Tom has led multiple organizations, worked in 18 countries across Europe, Asia, and South America, managed multimillion-dollar projects, and served as instructor for courses in aviation meteorology, history of air and space power, human resources, leadership, management, and national security affairs.