Lincoln College welcomes new director to Lincoln Heritage Museum

[September 29, 2015]  LINCOLN - On Saturday evening, it was officially announced during the Lincoln Heritage Museum Grand Soiree that Tom McLaughlin, a Lincoln College alum and currently employed by the college, will fill the role of Museum Director. He replaces Ron Keller, who announced this summer he would return to teaching full-time.

This weekend the director will host his first event at the Museum as Lincoln College hosts the Lincoln Colloquium.

This weekend the Lincoln Heritage Museum and Lincoln College will host the Lincoln Colloquium. The event also will serve as a campus welcome to McLaughlin, who is a Lincoln College alum and LC development officer since spring 2013.

Tom and his wife, Brittney grew up in Lincoln and are proud to be Lincoln College Alums. They recently moved back to Lincoln and are renovating a home near LC’s campus. Tom serves as a board member for Lincoln Community Theatre which just celebrated a successful return to LC’s Johnston Center Stage in July. When not on stage, behind the scenes or working on the house, Tom enjoys downtime with their three rescue black Labradors.
 

For Tom, Lincoln College runs in the family. His father Dan served until 2007 as chair of the Fine Arts Department after retiring from a long career at Lincoln Community High School. His mother Mary taught English for Lincoln College and retired in 2007 as Dean of Faculty. Tom’s brother (Mike) and sister-in-law (Colleen) are also graduates of Lincoln College.

Tom enjoyed a long and successful career in Pharmaceutical Sales as a Senior Sales Representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. and as a Senior Sales Rep and Territory Field Trainer for Astellas Pharma US, Inc.

In April 2013, Tom returned to Lincoln College as a Development Officer in the Alumni & Advancement department. Under the guidance of Vice President for Institutional Advancement Deb Ackerman, Tom played a vital role in building relationships with Lincoln College alumni, donors, and friends, assisting in several alumni relations outreach functions, and raising funds for scholarships, special projects, and the Lincoln Fund.

Tom graduated Lincoln College with honors and was the recipient of the Samuel B. Evans Award, the William B. McKinley Award, and was selected as the Student Laureate to the Lincoln Academy. He was a member of the Lincoln College Express under the tutelage of founder Bill Buffington, performed in several theatrical productions and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Tom completed his education receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Eastern Illinois University and an MBA from the University of Illinois-Springfield.

In addition to successful careers in sales and fundraising, and service as a volunteer and board member for local non-profit organizations, Tom’s enthusiasm for history and the theatre uniquely prepares him to bring history to life for visitors to the Lincoln Heritage Museum.

[Ryan Kieth, RK PR Solutions]