Kemper Scholar Profile

E. Thomas Mathew
E. Thomas Mathew

E. Thomas Mathew


Being a Kemper Scholar helped me to achieve my life goals.

Thomas Mathew became a Kemper Scholar in the early 1960s while doing post-graduate work at Illinois Institute of Technology. He had received his engineering degree from Trivandrum University of Kerala, India in 1959. Offering a good example of the Kemper Foundation’s belief that knowledge can be applied broadly, Tom Mathew has become a leading professional not in engineering but in corporate and investment management.

Mathew, First Vice President – Investments and Quantum Portfolio Manager for Wachovia Securities, is among only 50 people in the world who hold the distinguished designation of Certified Investment Strategist (CIS) through the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) and New York University’s School of Business. In addition he holds the prestigious Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation through IMCA and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce.

After he earned his graduate degree in Chicago, he went to work for DuPont, a company he served in management roles for twenty-two years. Among his duties for DuPont, Tom Mathew worked as an expatriate with management responsibility in the United Kingdom for three years. Back at DuPont’s Wilmington, Delaware headquarters, he was instrumental in getting DuPont to open offices in India. He worked with senior Indian cabinet members, government officials and the chairman of India’s equivalent of the Federal Reserve Bank. After his retirement from DuPont, he went to work for Prudential Securities, a predecessor firm of Wachovia Securities.

In the tradition of the Kemper Scholars, however, Tom Mathew’s accomplishments have not been limited to his professional life; they extend to community service as well. He served as President and CEO of the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation and played a pivotal role in building a replica of the ship that brought the first Swedish settlers to North America in 1638.

Currently Tom serves as Vice Moderator of the New Castle Presbytery of Presbyterian Church (USA), which includes all Presbyterian Churches in the State of Delaware plus parts of Maryland, and will be the Moderator in 2007. He is a member of the Council of New Castle Presbytery and will be its Chair in 2008. An ordained elder, he serves as a member of the Session of Limestone Presbyterian Church and is a past President of the Board of Trustees of the Church. He and his wife of forty years, Sareena, have two grown children.

Tom credits his being a Kemper Scholar with helping him achieve his life goals. Recalling the mentorship role of Foundation staff, he recalls, "I have very fond memories of the late Mr. Kennecott, Executive Director of the Kemper Foundation, who had me over to his house for dinner while I was in school in Chicago. He took me and introduced me to James S. Kemper."