Thomas J. Joyce

Class of 2003

Tom was born June 3, 1950 in Minneapolis. He graduated from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, with a degree in business administration. He has two children, Aaron and Rachel.

A 27-year veteran of Hershey Foods Corp., Tom began his career in 1975, as a sales representative in Louisville, KY. He went on to hold positions as St. Louis region manager, Louisville district manager and manager of military sales. Some of the most memorable moments of Tom’s career were spent building his Louisville and St. Louis sales teams.

Tom has also served as division manager and broker sales manager, diversified products; national accounts manager, field sales refrigerated products; manager, grocery sales planning; and Southern division manager for Hershey’s U.S. broker network.

In 2002, he was appointed to the position of director, customer and industry affairs, responsible for Hershey customer and industry functions, as well as assisting the sales department in developing its customer and industry relations.

A four-time winner of Hershey’s sales achievement award, the President’s Cup, Tom attributes his success to a “willingness to accept change and eliminate fear of failure,” an attitude to “never stop learning,” and “working for a great company.”

As advice to his candy business colleagues, Tom says: “Accept responsibility, don’t be afraid to fail and treat everyone as you would like to be treated.”

Tom is a member of the Knights of Columbus and enjoys cooking, listening to music, riding his scooter and playing golf.