Office of Communications: Personnel
Tommy Roach
Tommy Roach has deep roots in Athens. From graduating from Cedar Shoals High School to watching his son near graduation from the same institution – Clayton is a junior at Cedar Shoals – to working as assistant manager at two clothing stores to mastering a cut of meat as a butcher, he's seen the town in angles many wouldn't even imagine. Now he's seeing it from the angle of what Georgia's counties are watching.
For the past nine years, Tommy has been the media utilization specialist for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He keeps up with a wide variety of DVDs and videos available to college faculty and staff. Before then, he spent 13 years setting type and perfecting publications for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension in the print shop.
His time at the college started with an interview with Al Moore, his first baseball coach after little league was integrated in 1971.
"I grew up at the fringe of the segregation era and 70s era," he said. "In fifth grade we were integrated. We had scrimmages, but it was mostly peaceful. Kids were just glad to be going to school."
At the print shop, he could pour knowledge – gained from high school classes in graphic design – into his work.
"I had gotten really burnt out on retail and the marketing end of it," Tommy said, a career he went into after an associate's degree in marketing at Gainesville Junior College.
Now he works to keep up the media library, occasionally playing sheriff when materials aren't returned on time. And when 4-H camp season draws close, the demand is heavy. A constant stream of boxed videos and DVDs flows in and out of his office. He also has a year-round demand for Master Gardener and health-related material.
The part of his job he enjoys most is "interacting with people in different counties all over Georgia," Tommy said. "That's the fun part, getting to know people."
Away from work, Tommy coaches little league in the summer and fall – a volunteer position he's had for 13 years thanks to both his and Clayton's love for baseball.
"We stay busy all the time," he said. "I coached all-stars and state competition. I wouldn't take anything back for the world of it."
Tommy's wife Martha is an accountant in the biochemistry department at UGA. When they're not at Clayton's baseball games or band competitions, Tommy also sings lead in a quartet that performs regularly in nursing homes and churches.