Tom Ford has been named to the Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor class of 2020. Ford spent 30 years at Oakland providing outstanding treatment to thousands of student-athletes during his tenure.

Ford announced in May 2017 he would be stepping away from his duties due to being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. 

Ford came to Oakland in 1988 and immediately began working with the men's and women's basketball teams, along with the day-to-day duties of the athletic training office as the university's only athletic trainer.

In June 2012, Ford was recognized as the Michigan Athletic Trainer's Society's (MATS) Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award honoree for his superlative service to the field. He has worked with men's basketball ever since his arrival, and finished his career after 30 seasons on the bench for the Golden Grizzlies. In 2016-17 he also primarily worked with women's soccer, as well as the men's and women's golf teams.

A Rochester Hills resident, Ford was inducted into the Ball State University Cardinal Sports Medicine Society Ring of Honor in 2016. He worked at the United States Olympic Sports Festival and Olympic Training Center with men's hockey, and with the speedskaters at the Winter World University Games in Bulgaria.

Ford received a bachelor's degree from Ball State in 1981 and went on to earn a master's degree in health/athletic training and sports medicine from the University of Arizona in 1982. After he graduated from Arizona, he worked as an assistant athletic trainer for the Dallas Cowboys (1982) and spent six years as head athletic trainer at Cypress Creek High School in Houston, Texas before coming to Oakland University.

In honor of Ford's service, the Golden Grizzlies changed the Black and Gold Spirit Award to the Tom Ford Black and Gold Spirit Award and present it at the annual Black and Gold Awards.

What does Oakland mean to you?
Oakland University means family to me. As much as I bleed black and gold, my family Kathy, Tom, Travis and Keriann have a lot of black and gold blood in them too. As Oakland University Athletics grew our family grew too. Athletics grew but not too big so that we lost that family atmosphere. For me it was the relationships that were built with the student athletes and the coaches over my 30 years at Oakland University. I still have former student athletes contacting me about what to do about their recent injury or their child's injury. 
 
What is your favorite Oakland memory?
This is an unfair question. I spent 30 years, half of my lifetime at Oakland. To come up with one favorite memory is very difficult. I could look at the women's basketball team or the men's soccer team knocking on the door to a number of Division II championships. Or the women's and men's swimming and diving teams blowing that door down and winning many NCAA Division II championships. Then someone came up with the idea of going to vision one. At that time we were a pretty big fish in a small pond soon to be a small fish in a great big sea. We were in the process of re-constructing the Lepley Sports Center. I had the opportunity to design and equip a soon to be Division I weight room and athletic training room. It is this to transition from Division II to Division I that I think is my favorite memory. If not for our outstanding student athletes and coaches we could've easily sunk to the bottom of the sea. But we didn't, we stayed competitive in Division I with the facilities that were quickly becoming outdated. We proved that we belonged. Men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, men's and women's swimming and diving, softball, men's and women's cross country, track and field teams have all competed at the highest level the Division I NCAA National Tournaments. We have had Athletes go on and compete professionally too. Others have gone on to be successful in their Field of study. Oakland University Athletics continue to produce Graduates and Champions. I couldn't be more proud.
 
What does athletics mean to you?
I knew it a young age that I want to be an athletic trainer. My high school physical education teacher, coach and athletic director knew of my interest in Athletic training. He enrolled me in a Cramer student trainer home study course which led me to many workshops and clinics before I even graduate from high school. I want to Ball State University and the University of Arizona to study athletic training. Everywhere I've been, I've made it a point to learn more about my profession. From the Dallas Cowboys, Cypress Creek high school, Olympic athletes to Oakland University I've learned. I've been very fortunate to have many mentors along the way. I've also surrounded myself with good people, doctors and athletic trainers. I have also been blessed to have a family that has allowed me to play Athletic Trainer all these years.
 
What did you do after your Oakland experience? 
Former student athletes would come back after graduating I would say to me "T Ford you were still here!". I would joke back at them saying "I haven't graduated yet!".  this is not what I was expecting once I "graduated". My wife, Kathy and I were beginning to plan for our retirement. Kathy had a binder filled with spreadsheets for different scenarios for retirement. None of these scenarios included what I heard on April 20, 2017. The diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease with a prognosis of 2 to 5 years life expectancy was like a death sentence. The idea of going from taking care of people on a daily basis to being totally dependent on others to live was never in my DNA but I'm quickly learning.
 
This year's induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Jan. 24 at the Auburn Hills Marriott Pontiac. The event is open to the public, and those interested in attending can register here.