Ex-Aurora police chief joins Waubonsee college board

Former Aurora police chief Greg Thomas is the newest Waubonsee Community College board trustee.

The board picked Thomas to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Roger Harris of Geneva.

Thomas, 57, said the college is "doing a good job," and he looks forward to having an insider's perspective on how it is run.

He graduated from the school in 1980, having attended while he was an Aurora police cadet.

Thomas said he wanted to be an attorney, but lacked money for college. He saw an ad for the Aurora cadet program, which paid a salary and covered two years of college tuition if cadets studied criminal justice.

"I enjoyed it (police work) and never looked back," Thomas said.

He retired from Aurora in 2015 and is now Darien's police chief.

He has a bachelor's degree from Lewis University and a master's degree in business administration from Aurora University. He lives in Aurora.

In 2010, Waubonsee named him a Distinguished Alumnus.

He belongs to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Executive Research Forum, the Kane County Chiefs of Police Association and the DuPage County Chiefs of Police Association.

Thomas also has served with Hesed House shelter, the Kane County Child Advocacy Board, the Suburban Law Enforcement Police Academy Board and the Aurora Cares Board.

He teaches graduate and undergraduate criminal justice classes at Aurora University.

Thomas will serve through April 2019. A special election will be held that month to fill the remainder of term, through April 2023. Thomas said he intends to run in that election.

Harris resigned in January, as he moved to Florida.