Dr. Randall to deliver SSCC commencement address
Southern State Community College is pleased to announce Thomas Randall, M.D., has been selected to deliver the commencement address for the college’s 40th graduating class. Commencement will begin 7 p.m. Friday, May 8, in The Patriot Center on Central Campus, 100 Hobart Drive, Hillsboro.
“I love to learn. I think it keeps my mind young, if not my body,” said Dr. Randall. “I also love to see other people learning and to think about where their energy and eagerness for life may one day take them.”
Dr. Randall’s life is a testament to lifelong learning. Though he began his education in aviation, his thirst for knowledge led him to his current career as an emergency department physician.
A graduate of Little Miami High School in Morrow, Dr. Randall attended Ball State University for two years to attain pre-engineering classwork, then transferred to the University of Cincinnati where he graduated cum laude with a degree in aerospace engineering.
While still in college, he worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as an apprentice engineer for the aircraft conceptual design directorate, and earned a secret clearance while helping design new advanced military aircraft. Following his graduation from UC, he worked for Landrum & Brown as an airport design analyst involved in airport air and ground traffic pattern analysis for Miami International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
“At the time of my graduation from UC, the aerospace industry took a big hit,” he said. “The defense industry was downsizing and new engineers were not in demand. I was disenchanted. I wanted a job with security, a profession that I could feel good about using all of my scientific tools that I had accumulated and make a difference. I bit the bullet for four more years of intensive study to be a physician, hoping to help my fellow man/woman on a more personal level. What could be more gratifying and fulfilling?”
Admitted to The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Dr. Randall attained his doctor of medicine degree, followed by his graduate medical education with the Bethesda Family Medicine Residency Program. When his residency was completed, Dr. Randall enlisted with the Army Reserve Medical Corp and served as staff physician at the U.S. Army posts in Ft. Knox, Ky., and Landstuhl, Germany. At the same time, he began his career with Highland District Hospital where he currently serves as emergency department physician.
Though his career path took a different turn, his love for flying remained on course. For three years during his medical tenure, Dr. Randall also served as a flight instructor at Clermont County Airport with an airline transport certificate for the multi-engine airplane, and a commercial certificate for the single-engine airplane.
“I've never believed in limiting myself to one career,” said Dr. Randall. “A mind that becomes stale and unchallenged is a mind that wastes away. I don't plan on wasting away. I'm not sure where this will take me after I leave medicine -- perhaps to part-time teaching or just simply exploring the creativity of the mind through music and art.”
And the thirst for knowledge never ends. Dr. Randall periodically enrolls in courses at Southern State Community College for personal and educational enrichment, and recently completed a short course in forensic pencil sketching through a school in Atlanta, Ga. His other hobbies include portrait sketching in graphite and charcoal, remote control helicopters, Shotokan karate, flute, mathematics, and web programming.
“You might call me a dreamer and doer,” he said.
He and his wife, Sandy, have an eight-year-old daughter, Skylar.
For more information about opportunities available at Southern State Community College, please call 1-800-628-7722, email info@sscc.edu, or visit www.sscc.edu.