Tom died Dec. 9, 2013, in Tiverton, R.I., surrounded by his children.
Tom prepared at Kent School, and at Princeton he majored in economics. He was a varsity wrestler and a member of Quadrangle and the track team.
In September 1943 he entered the Navy to become a lieutenant junior grade, serving on the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard in the Atlantic and Pacific. He returned to Princeton to receive his doctoral degree, and taught economics there until 1953, when he became a professor at MIT. Three years later, he became the chief economist for the Atomic Energy Commission. He later taught at Berkeley, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Yale, and Wesleyan for 30 years.
Tom consulted with the Rand Corp., GE, Raytheon, Sears, and the Stanford Research Institute over the years. He authored numerous scholarly articles, two books on inventory systems, and co-created the Wagner-Whitin algorithm, a tool used today by economists.
Tom played tennis, squash, and jogged into his 80s. Raised conservatively, he became a lifelong Democrat.
His wife of 44 years, Edith Sherer, predeceased him. He is survived by his daughters, Holly and Sonia; sons Charles ’73 and Richard; and three granddaughters.