“Drive to 75” Co-Chair
Thomas M. Reynolds is a Senior Policy Advisor at Holland & Knight, LLP and a former Congressman with more than 35 years of elected public service benefitting WNY. Reynolds also is an active and engaged member of the Daemen community and the co-chair of Daemen’s first-ever comprehensive capital campaign, the “Drive to 75.”
His impact on the college has been significant. In 2004, Daemen was proud to dedicate the Thomas Reynolds Center for Special Education and After School Programs, a tribute to the incredible assistance of the then Congressman in making the center a reality. The center holds special significance for Reynolds and his wife, who have advocated for years in support of those with special needs, including their son Mark. The center focuses on providing Daemen students with an innovative and unique opportunity to gain hands-on teaching experience, stay current in the field, and use technology within their lessons while completing their master’s degrees in special education.
Students who graduate from the Thomas Reynolds Center for Special Education enter the job market with the credentials, experience and confidence to immediately start having an impact in their careers and communities.
There isn’t a month that goes by that a parent of a special needs child, or a faculty member, or – almost as importantly – a student in the program getting their college education here at Daemen – isn’t talking about the center and what it has done for them.
Thomas M. Reynolds ’00
Reynolds also serves on the Board of Trustees for Daemen, a position he’s held since 2012. In 2000, he served as Daemen’s commencement speaker and was awarded an honorary degree in humane letters. He’s made personal contributions to the college and is lending his expertise and passion to the college’s Drive to 75 comprehensive campaign.
With a long and distinguished public service career, Reynolds’ impact on Daemen represents just a sliver of the influence that he’s had in WNY – on individuals, families, and organizations alike.
Reynolds is a former member of Congress was an elected House Leader from New York, and served as a senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee and Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Prior to that, he served as a member of the New York State Assembly, where he rose to the post of Assembly Republican Leader.
And it all started here in WNY, where he was a small business owner before becoming a leader in town government, the county legislature, and serving as the Erie County Republican Chairman.