Thom E. Hirsch recently retired after an almost 50-year career in energy law, having held positions in the federal government, an international energy consulting firm as general counsel, his own law firm, and Norton Rose Fulbright LP, an international law firm. He serves on the Board of Directors and its Educational Programs Committee at Mt. St. Joseph College High School in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a part-time substitute teacher at Queen Anne’s County High School in Centreville, Maryland on the Eastern Shore.
Previously, Thom headed the USA Warriors Ice Hockey Programs, Inc., a Maryland non-profit organization offering standing and sled hockey programs to wounded warriors and disabled veterans as a form of rehabilitation and therapy. He coached ice hockey for 25 years including as sled hockey coach for the USA Warriors, with several of his players ultimately playing on the USA Sled Hockey Team winning gold medals at several Paralympics and World Championships. He conceived and directed an annual sled hockey tournament for wounded warriors and disabled veterans, the only tournament of its kind, which has now been held for 7 years. Thom was a Red Cross volunteer in the Occupational Therapy Clinic at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Thom graduated from Lehigh in 1975, with majors in Mathematics and American Studies, and wrestled for Coaches Thad Turner and Gerry Leeman from 1971-1974. He was a Gryphon and President of his Class. Thom received his law degree with The George Washington University (GWU) in 1978. Thom’s wife Valerie, also an attorney with a legal degree from GWU, graduated from Lehigh in 1983, with a degree in Government and a minor in Russian Studies. They have continued to support Lehigh since their graduations. They have two sons: Edward who graduated from Lehigh in 2010, with a degree in Chemical Engineering, and works in the energy space in Baltimore; and William who graduated from West Virginia University in 2014, with a degree in journalism, and serves in the US Navy.