Tom Wylonis

Tom has had four careers and several avocations, so far, obtaining a rich learning experience as an angel investor/mentor, educator, top-management consultant and engineer/mathematician.

Angel Investor/Mentor: Tom is an angel investor in 10 high-tech companies in Denmark and the USA. Among these companies, he is currently board chairman & mentor to the founders of Evaxion Biotech, a bioinformatics, vaccine company headquartered in Denmark. And he is a board member and coach to the founders of Vertic, a digital marketing company, with offices in Copenhagen, New York City, Seattle and Singapore. He was was also the founding chairman of Connect Denmark, a foundation that supports a majority of high-tech startups in Denmark.

After Tom returned to the USA in 2007 after living 26 years in Denmark, he re-engaged at Penn State and MIT in mentor-driven programs. He has mentored a student from the electrical engineering department at Penn State since 2011, and has been a mentor at MIT since 2013 in UPOP, an annual leadership/interpersonal skills program for sophomores.

Educator: Tom joined SIMI in 1997, an executive-education school in Denmark, as a senior vice president, program director and adjunct professor of innovation. At SIMI, Tom taught strategy and innovation; was a thesis advisor for over 50 MBA students; started executive programs for high-tech industries; advised over 100 teams on real projects for their sponsoring companies; led the overall program of executive education; and created many of SIMI’s innovations in experiential education.

Tom is currently on the advisory board of Penn State Schuylkill and is assisting in the introduction of experiential learning programs in interpersonal skills and entrepreneurship at Schuylkill.

At the Copenhagen International School (CIS), a K-12 school, Tom was elected to the board of directors in 1989 serving as chairman 1993-1995, and coached boys’ and girls’ basketball teams in international competition. He is currently the chairman of the CIS USA Foundation.

He also taught in numerous internal training programs at McKinsey & Co., led the training and development of consultants, mentored associates & partners, and led the Copenhagen office.

Management Consultant: Tom has had extensive experience in high-tech business during his 22-year, international career as a top management consultant with McKinsey & Co. He led teams that improved the performance of large, international companies through strengthened strategy, organization and operations. These clients covered a wide range of industries including aerospace, automobiles, consumer products, energy, forest products, industrial products, media, medical & pharmaceutical products, etc. in Canada, Europe, India, the USA and Venezuela. He is a retired senior partner and an active member, still, of the McKinsey network of alumni.

Engineer/Mathematician: In 1967, Tom joined The Bell Telephone Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff. During his eight years at Bell Labs, Tom worked on network optimization algorithms, development of Picturephone®, and economic evaluation of new products. It was here that he learned about the differences between high-tech invention, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Tom received a BSc in Electrical Engineering in 1967 from Penn State. He obtained a MSc from MIT in Electrical Engineering/Operations Research in 1968. Tom was advised during his thesis work by Professor Franco Modigliani, a Nobel Prize winner in economics. He earned his PhD in Operations Research in 1972 from the New York University.