Tom Kavassalis

Tom Kavassalis is Vice President of Strategy and Alliances for the Xerox Innovation Group (XIG) - a position he has held since 2006.

As Vice President of Strategy and Alliances, Tom leads strategy development for the Xerox Innovation Group. In this role, Tom ensures that Xerox has a balanced portfolio of research and technology investments supporting Xerox's near term business strategies and creating options for the future. His alliances work is focused on leveraging external innovation.

Joining the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) in 1987 as a member of the research staff, Tom worked in the field of polymer physics, developing theories and models to explain the mechanical and rheological properties of polymeric materials. He also established a competence in modeling and simulation of material systems. His further research areas included the study of molecular level models of phase transitions, solubility behaviors and stress-strain behaviors. While conducting research at XRCC, Tom maintained a concurrent appointment as adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo. Tom became Associate Centre Manager of XRCC in 1995. He has been associated with the strategy and planning functions in XIG, and the former research and technology organizations, since 1997.

Prior to joining Xerox, Tom served as a research scientist at Ontario Hydro Research Division and as a visiting scientist at the Instituut Lorentz in the Netherlands.

Tom holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from MIT. His thesis research was in the field of statistical mechanics.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Tom currently lives in Oakville, Canada with his wife Catherine, his son Nicholas and daughter Sarah. Away from work, his interests include nature photography, woodturning, rebuilding vintage cars, and auto-racing. He will always be a bad golfer.