Tom was initiated into the North Dakota Alpha Chapter of Phi Delta Theta at the University of North Dakota in 1994. Tom served on the General Headquarters staff as the project coordinator for alcohol-free housing from 1997–2001. During that time, he had the opportunity to visit more than one hundred Phi Delt chapters and one hundred fifty campuses throughout the United States and Canada. As an undergraduate, Tom served as awards chair, alumni relations chair, recruitment chair, Phikeia educator, and chapter president. Tom was elected to the General Council in 2021, has served as a member-at-large, and is currently the reporter.
Previously, Tom served the Fraternity as the Zeta East Province President and Lambda Province President. Additionally, Tom has served on the faculty at numerous McKenzie Family Presidents Leadership Conferences and the Kleberg Emerging Leaders Institute. Tom turned being chapter president into a full-time job and has more than twenty-five years of professional experience as an association executive. Currently, he serves as the president and CEO of the Ohio Trucking Association in Columbus, Ohio. Prior, he held positions as executive vice president of the North Dakota Motor Carriers Association and executive director of the Prairie Rose State Games. Tom was credentialed in 2006 as a certified association executive by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), a distinction held by less than 5,000 professionals worldwide. Tom has a BBA from the University of North Dakota and an MBA from the University of Mary.
Tom serves in numerous volunteer capacities, including a member of the Civil Discourse Working Group of ASAE, the Power of A committee of ASAE, chair of the Ohio Society of Association Professionals Foundation, and a board member of the American Trucking Associations TruckPAC.
Tom lives in Bexley, Ohio, with his wife, Michelle, her daughter, Lucy, and their dogs, Benny and Fraiser. He is a CrossFit Level 1 trainer and a competitive masters athlete, finishing in the top 300 in the world in his age group in 2024.
A piece of advice
“Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Part of being the greatest version of yourself is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. It is about expanding your knowledge, trying something new, or simply conversing with someone you typically wouldn’t. The Immortal Six founded our great brotherhood at a time of great uncertainty. Brother Morrison implores us “to do what ought to be done, but what would not have been done unless I did it, I thought to be my duty.” To do this requires us to get a little uncomfortable.”
Tom Balzer, North Dakota ’99