Tom Grape served on the Ithaca College board of trustees from 2009 to 2018, serving as chair for 6 years. He was named chair emeritus in 2018.
Tom is founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Benchmark Senior Living in Waltham, Massachusetts, which has $2 billion in assets, generates $450 million in annual revenues, and employs 5,500 associates. A privately held company, Benchmark is the largest provider of senior housing in the northeast, and has been recognized as one of the top 100 places to work by the Boston Globe for eight straight years.
Tom earned a B.A. in planned studies from Ithaca College in 1980. Prior to becoming board chair, he served on the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Compensation Committee, Institutional Advancement Committee (which he chaired from 2010 to 2012), and Trusteeship Committee. He was also the recipient of the Ithaca College Alumni Association's Professional Achievement Award in 2013.
Previously, Tom served on the Business Professionals Alumni Advisory Committee, School of Business Steering Committee, Campaign Committee for the School of Business, and as a member of the President's Roundtable. He also has spoken to classes at IC's School of Business as a distinguished executive lecturer.
Tom is active in many professional organizations and is past chairman of the Assisted Living Federation of America, the industry's national trade association. He serves as chairman of the board of the Meadowbrook School and vice chair of Newton-Wellesley Hospital; is an active member and former board member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO); and served for many years on the vestry and as chair of the Building Committee at the renowned Trinity Church in Boston.
In 2003 he was recognized as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for real estate/hospitality in New England, and was honored with the inaugural International Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the YPO.