Education
BS with honors, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UW–Madison
Tom Erickson is the founding director of the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) and the Executive Associate Dean of Strategy and Innovation for the College of Letters & Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Assembled in 2019, CDIS comprises Computer Sciences, Statistics, and the Information School. The School was created in recognition that the future of high tech involves both cutting-edge research and education in the core sciences and the enrichment of this work with an understanding of the societal impact posed by the pervasiveness of computing and big data. The School has key objectives to extend digital thinking across campus while engaging with industry, reimagining traditional businesses in a digital context, and partnering to commercialize advanced research in digitally savvy organizations.
CDIS is home to the largest undergraduate major at UW-Madison, Computer Sciences, and the fastest-growing major, Data Science. Undergraduate majors in CDIS have increased by over 1000% in the past ten years.
Tom served on former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s advisory council, and in 2018 co-chaired a working group on the future of computing at the university. He co-authored the group’s report “Wisconsin in the Information Age.”
Tom serves on the boards of emerging tech companies in North America and Europe in data science, analytics, and digital health.
Before returning to his alma mater, Tom had been a founding director and CEO of Acquia, a Boston-based software company that he grew from founding to $175M in revenue and 800 employees. A majority share of Acquia was acquired in 2019 by Vista Equity Partners for more than $1B. In 2012, Deloitte named Acquia the fastest-growing private software company in the USA.
Tom has also served in several executive roles in software companies in his 40-year career, including Teleatlas (TomTom), Systinet (Mercury Interactive/HP), webMethods (Software AG), Baan (Infor), and MRO Software (IBM).
Tom is passionate about opportunity, equality, and education. He loves the outdoors and hates room service. A native of western Wisconsin, he’s lived in Australia, England, and France. He enjoys photography and cooking when he is not developing his mindfulness practice. Tom is the proud father of two young men.
Tom is a third-generation Wisconsin Badger with a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering with honors ’80 from UW-Madison.