Tom Cason, Ph.D.

2018 Distinguished Alumni

B.S. Biological Sciences '72, M.S. Biological Sciences '74, Ph.D. Botany '77

Tom Cason began his career in Lincoln, Nebraska, with Shell Chemical Company in 1978. Later he transferred to Shell’s Biological Sciences Research Center in Modesto, California, where he was assigned to R&D: fungicides, herbicides and plant growth regulators. The Shell research division was acquired by E.I. DuPont in 1987, and he continued with DuPont R&D until 1989, when he joined Crop Genetics International based in Hanover, Maryland. There, he was on the R&D team for developing transgenic endophytes for crop plants.

 

In 1992, he made a career change from agricultural research to environmental research. He briefly worked at Kansas City-based Kingston Environmental Services developing their bioremediation business before joining Shell Technology Venture’s Terratherm Environmental in Houston as V.P. of operations for thermal remediation technologies worldwide. He managed a large Department of Defense project for in situ thermal desorption of polychlorinated biphenysin soil on the island of Saipan, U.S. Marianas Islands.

 

In 1998, he purchased the company he previously worked for, Kingston Environmental Services, and became an entrepreneur. As Kington’s President and CEO, the company participated in many large environmental actions nationwide, including many for FEMA following Hurricane Katrina. Kingston’s clients included several U.S. government departments: DOD, EPA (Superfund), Interior, HHS, and numerous state, city and private parties. In 2005, the U.S. Small Business Administration Region 7 of Kansas City, Missouri, awarded him Minority Small Business Person of the Year, and in 2006 named his company SBA’s Minority Small Business of the Year.

 

Cason is married to Barbara R. Cason, B.S. Zoology ’76. They have four daughters and five grandchildren and reside in the Kansas City suburb of Stilwell, Kansas.