Thomas B. Piccin, Ph.D.
Dr. Thomas B. Piccin, founder and principal of Lernex Solutions, has been teaching for more than 30 years—and learning for even longer than that. As an undergraduate, he earned a B.S. in computer engineering at Western New England College, and he worked for many years as a software engineer, database developer, and technical project manager. His first graduate degree was an M.S. in engineering management, which he earned at the Florida Institute of Technology while working as a software analyst for a U.S. Navy contracting firm. During his years working as a technologist, Tom had many opportunities to teach technical topics in corporate as well as academic settings. He was also active as a volunteer instructor with several nonprofit organizations, teaching literacy, study skills, and English as a Second Language.
In later years, Tom's academic interests expanded, and he earned an M.A. in linguistics from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. While at Gallaudet, Tom worked as a teaching assistant and mentored deaf students in reading and writing English. His interest in language development led him to earn an M.S. in developmental psychology from Villanova University. From there he went on to earn a Ph.D. in psychology from Northwestern University, where the focus of his study was language acquisition and cognitive development. During his years at Villanova and Northwestern, he taught psychology to undergraduates as a teaching assistant, he tutored high school students in SAT and ACT preparation, and he worked as a consultant teaching computer skills to small business owners.
Tom's published research includes work on word learning, syntactic development, and spatial cognition in infants and children. He has worked extensively with adult learners, adolescents, and children, and he has a long history of volunteer service to organizations that foster academic and literacy development.
Learning and teaching are passions that I have pursued all my life. My teaching approach is based on the simple belief that my job as a teacher is not to transfer knowledge from my head to yours, but rather to empower you to develop the knowledge yourself. I do this by focusing on hands-on learning, relating new material to concepts that you are already familiar with, and helping you find relevance of the material to your life and your learning objectives.
I would love to share my passion for learning with you!
—Tom Piccin