Tom Rooney

Tom Rooney has been teaching at West Leyden High School in the near western suburbs of Chicago for 29 years. He has taught economics to seniors for 28 of those years, and he has also taught US history to juniors (21 years), sociology to seniors (14 years), global studies to freshmen (12 years), and European history to sophomores (8 years). 

In 2001, Tom was the national winner of the FTE’s Excellence in Economic Education Award, and he became an FTE Mentor Teacher in 2004. In 2005, after completing master’s level work in economics, he taught ECON 261 (Micro) at Northern Illinois University. He also received a James Madison Memorial Fellowship in 2020. 

Outside the classroom, Tom served six years as the mayor of Rolling Meadows, IL, and two years as a Senator in the Illinois legislature — where he was a consistent voice for the application of economic principles. 

However, Tom feels that his greatest accomplishment is having shared in raising two fine young men.