Tom Boyd (#3753)
Tom Boyd was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 1, 1946. He was raised and educated there, graduating from Palmer High School in 1964. He was a Barnes Scholar at Colorado College and received a B.S. degree in chemistry, cum laude, in 1968. From there, Tom went to the University of Illinois at Urbana and received a Ph. D. degree in inorganic chemistry in 1973. After completing his formal education, he worked in the chemical industry as a researcher and laboratory supervisor. While at the University of Illinois, Tom married Margaret Lynn Atkinson in 1973. They are the parents of three daughters, Ann, Lynne, and Jenny and reside in Boulder, Colorado.
Tom's interest in plate collecting didn't materialize until the early 1970's. He joined ALPCA in June of 1982. Tom assumed the Rocky Mountain Region's secretary/treasurer job in early 1983. In that short time, he had impressed the "old guard" with his character, enthusiasm, organizational skills, and integrity. Tom served as ALPCA vice president in 1995-96 and newsletter editor from 1996 until 1999. He was drafted into this role due to a health emergency of the former editor Paul Maginnity. He excelled at the task when the club needed him most. His high quality performance ushered the club into a new era of newsletter prominence.
To encourage greater participation in local meets Tom began sending out promotional fliers to known collectors in the area. Those fliers grew up and became a newsletter in 1987. After two years and four issues, "Plate News" was turned over to its second editor in late 1988. Tom still contributes the occasional article for the publication he started. It still exists today as the voice of the region. In 1991, along with co-author George Sammeth, Tom published COLORADO LICENSE PLATES: Facts, Figures, and Folklore. The book required about four years of research, writing, and re-writing. It was the first full-scale book on the license plates of a single state. Others have followed. This work was recognized in 1993 when Tom and George were co-recipients of the ALPCA Long Island Region Award, which was given "for outstanding contributions to the hobby of license plate collecting." In 1995, Tom published the reference book, "License Plate County Codes of the United States and Canada," along with co-authors Eric Tanner and Bill Davis.
In 2001, Tom published a small pamphlet about cleaning and caring for license plates entitled, "A Guide to the Care and Feeding of Your License Plate Collection." His book COLORADO LICENSE PLATES: Facts, Figures and Folklore was updated and expanded in 2015. "COLORADO LICENSE PLATES, The First 100 Years, 1913-2013" sets a new standard in license plate books. Tom was the driving force behind this long-awaited update, accomplished with the assistance of co-authors George Sammeth and Jim Hucks.
Perhaps Tom's greatest contribution to the license plate fraternity is the assistance he offers to other collectors, especially those just starting out. Tom has been responsible for locating countless items on his colleagues' want lists.
With great pride we welcome Thomas Boyd to the ALPCA Hall of Fame.