Thomas (Tom) Peeples, Jr.

Senior Manager of Lean Operations, Americas Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Thomas is the Sr. Manager of Lean Operations, Americas at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. In this role, Thomas has responsibility for Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, the Quality Management System and Business Continuity Planning, in the Goodyear Innovation Center in Akron, Ohio. Prior to his current role, he was a Sr. Technical Project Manager in Off-Highway/Aviation where he had responsibility for the tire design of military aircraft, commercial and business jets, and several large commercial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Since 1999, Thomas has held many technical and leadership roles in several states and multiple countries.

Prior to Goodyear, he served in various Surface Warfare roles onboard the USS Fletcher (DD-992) and the USS Hewitt (DD-966) and currently service as the Executive Officer of the Ohio Navy.

Thomas L. Peeples, Jr. is a 1994 and 2003 graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering and later a Master of Science in Cross-Disciplinary Professional Studies (Quality and Statistics) from the college of Applied Science and Technology. He is adjunct faculty at RIT’s College of Engineering Technology and is also enrolled in George Washington University’s Engineering Management Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) program.

He is on the executive committees of the Akron NAACP and the 100 Black Men of Akron. He also serves as the Secretary of the board of directors of ProjectGrad Akron.