Tom Nealon is the national board chair of the American Liver Foundation, one of the leading resources of liver disease research, prevention, and treatment. In addition to his time at ALF, Tom is also the vice chairman and director of legal affairs LNR Partners, LLC, a commercial mortgage-backed securities industry he joined in 1992.

Born in Scranton, PA, Tom is a second-generation Irish American with Irish ancestry on both sides, including County Mayo from his father Tom and Kilkenny from his mother Mary Catherine. He is proud of his Irish ancestry, particularly his maternal grandfather who at 21 emigrated to the U.S. 100 years ago, and fondly remembers summers with him in western Pennsylvania. “I learned much from him about hard work and respect for others and always maintaining a sense of dignity in everything I do in life. I owe much in my life to my Irish heritage.”

Working as a plumber at 16, Tom “gained a great respect for the hard work and determination that trades people put into their work,” he says. “It always gave me a revelation and a realization that if I aspired to do anything else in life I needed to work hard to attain it.” An avid runner, Tom ran the Boston marathon in 2002 and has helped raise over $1.5 million for the American Liver Foundation. He currently lives in New York with his wife Marjie and his five children Thomas, Peter, Brian, Alexander, and Carlyle.