Anyone who has been involved in UUP during the last four decades has most likely crossed paths with Thomas Matthews of Geneseo—and walked away with a smile. His soft-spoken manner and uncompromising principles define this longtime activist who has helped to shape the union’s mission from the beginning.

Among Matthews’ key roles in UUP: He has served as the union’s statewide treasurer and vice president for professionals, and he is UUP’s only two-time chief negotiator, leading the way on the oft- contentious 1994-1999 and 1999-2003 contracts.

It’s this tireless devotion to higher education unionism that earned Matthews this year’s NYSUT Higher Education Member of the Year Award. He received the award during the 37th annual NYSUT Representative Assembly April 2-4 in Buffalo.

“Tom continues to be a leader on the local and statewide levels, and he is truly committed to higher education, the union and its ideals,” said UUP President Phillip Smith, who nominated Matthews for the honor. “His dedication to UUP and SUNY is widely recognized and respected. He is most deserving of this award.”

Matthews’ service to higher education and unionism began in the early 1970s, when he cast his votes for a united organization (the merger of two predecessor unions) and for the first president of UUP.

From there, he served as president of UUP’s Geneseo Chapter and quickly moved up the leadership ladder. He was elected to serve as statewide treasurer from 1981-1987, and as statewide vice president for professionals from 1992-2000. He served for 19 years on the union’s statewide Executive Board, and he continues his 12-term service on the NYSUT Board of Directors.

In 1993, he earned the union’s highest honor, the Nina Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service.

Matthews is Geneseo’s director of leadership education, development and training. He was honored in the early 1990s with the endowment of a Thomas E. Matthews Student Leadership Scholarship in recognition of his ability to turn students into campus leaders. Similarly, the humanitarian efforts of Livingston CARES (Community Action Relief Efforts), the group he chairs and has led on several trips to hurricane-ravaged communities in Mississippi, earned the federal Katrina Compassion Award. In November 2006, SUNY awarded its Outstanding Student Affairs Program in Leadership Development to Geneseo’s GOLD Leadership Certificate Program, which Matthews directs.

“I am proud of my involvement as chief negotiator and how we were able to make the contracting out of union jobs such a cumbersome process that, 15 years later,

I can happily report that not one of our members has had his work privatized or shipped overseas,” Matthews said.

“Thank you for the honor of still being able to serve and to do my small part in protecting the rights and the jobs of our members in this incredible union.”

— Karen L. Mattison