Thomas Leahy

Thomas Leahy (Engr ’75, ’77 CM) retired in August 2020 from the city of Virginia Beach. After several years in desalination research and development, Leahy joined the city in 1980 as water resources manager and lead on a project to pump 60 million gallons per day of water from Lake Gaston to southeast Virginia. The project eliminated chronic water shortages that plagued the region for decades. Appointed director of public utilities in 2003, and deputy city manager for infrastructure in 2016, Leahy oversaw the city’s strategy development and efforts to address flooding and sea level rise. Scheduled to retire, he was appointed interim city manager in August 2019. In his last year of service, he dealt with the response to the mass shooting, abrupt departure of the city manager, COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest fallout from Minneapolis, and two hurricanes. He lives with his wife, Pam, in the Nimmo-Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach.