40 Under 40 The Class of 2010

Thomas Galanis

Thomas Galanis: 32

Portal Manager and Adjunct Professor, Westfield State College

Thomas Galanis says he’s a Renaissance man. “I have good skills, but am able to step outside the box and practice creative problem-solving through the use of technology and other disciplines such as organizational behavior, change management, and project management,” he said.

Galinas is a born educator, and, as a young boy, he loved taking things apart, putting them back together, and then telling his parents what he had done. “I have an intense need to learn about things and explain how they work,” he said. That need led him to earn a master’s degree in Public Administration. Galinas teaches Social Networking at Westfield State College and recently created a new course in Information Management that he will teach this summer.

“Although my job is technical, I have transformed it into being more about stewardship; I try to be a conduit and communicate with everyone,” he explained. “I was in private industry before taking this job and have seen all aspects of the way technology changes people’s behavior. It’s about doing things in different ways.”

Galanis is on the board of several community, state, and national organizations. He’s chair of the Westfield chapter of the Westfield State College Alumni Association, treasurer and membership coordinator for the local chapter of the Assoc. of Professional Adminstrators, a voting board member of Westfield State College’s graduate council, a technology blogger for MassLive, a member of the planning team and media and technical coordinator of PodCamp Western Mass 2, a volunteer Web designer for the Western Mass. Geneological Society, and a member of MENSA.

His wife, Kelly, a 40 Under Forty honoree in 2008, got him involved in community theater. He is an actor/player for Westfield on Weekends, and an actor/member of Westfield Theater Group. “I escape through the characters,” he said.

“I never know what the future will hold for me,” he continued, adding that he is on a continual quest to help educate people about technology as it continues to change.

—Kathleen Mitchell

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