Born and raised in Otego, Tom Sears continues to reside in the town with his wife, Anita. They have been married since 1971. They have two sons, Covar (married to Tara) and Ian, a student at Hartwick College.

Tom graduated from Albany State with a BS in Accounting, earned his Certified Public Accountant certification in 1976, and later an MBA from Syracuse University. He worked for a local CPA firm and was self-employed as an accountant until he found his calling, following in his parents' footsteps, as a teacher.

Tom has been a professor of Accounting and Management at Hartwick College since 1978. While at Hartwick he has always been involved on faculty committees: Faculty Salary and Budget; Academic Standards; Faculty Council; Committee on Appointments, Tenure and Promotion; and the Presidential, Vice Presidential and Athletic Director Search Committees. He was also Faculty Chair from 2002 to 2004.

Tom has always taken great pride in being involved with his students at Hartwick. With great joy he received the Margaret B. Bunn Award For Excellence in Teaching in 2005, the most coveted faculty award from students graduated five years before the vote. Athletes in his classes will likely find him in the stands cheering at their events. He is faculty adviser to many more students than the number required. Tom sponsored and is adviser to the Accounting Society and co- adviser of The College Republicans. He has also participated in programs as a mentor to foreign students. He has taken more than 10 student groups to Europe to study Western and Eastern European business practices and economic policies. In addition, he has initiated student paint-balling and parachute-jumping expeditions. Outside of the Hartwick community, Tom has been a member of the Unatego School Board since 1990, including 13 years as either president or vice president. He is a member of the Main Street Baptist Church of Oneonta. As part of his ongoing interests, he has been researching the tax structures of transitional countries of Eastern Europe, especially Romania and Bulgaria.