Congratulations to Thomas Seale, the 2025 Linda Duttenhaver Distinguished Alumni Award recipient!
Thomas studied abroad with UCEAP in 1977-78 at St Andrews University in Scotland. We were honored to present the award to Thomas in person at a celebration event held on the St Andrews campus last month, recognizing the 60th anniversary of student exchange between the University of California and St Andrews.
Like most UCEAP alumni, Thomas’s experience abroad was transformational. “I will never forget receiving a letter of acceptance from St Andrews University back in 1977. I raced to the library at UC Santa Cruz to grab an atlas and look up Fife. This was before Google maps! I was excited but also somewhat trepidatious: How do I get from Leuchars Junction to Saint Salvator’s residence hall? Will I make friends? Will I be homesick? Will I understand the accents? Upon arriving, I found university life to be welcoming. My only problem was that being from California, I did not have a proper coat, having packed just a thin nylon wind breaker to stave off the elements. That winter, I was never so cold in my life!”
After returning from Scotland and graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Economics in 1979, Thomas earned an MA in Economics and an MBA at UCLA. Thomas has worked in finance since his graduation, eventually relocating to Luxembourg as a Managing Director with Citibank and then as CEO of European Fund Administration. Today Thomas works as an Independent Director in the finance industry. He is also an award-winning olive oil producer. With his wife and three children, in 2010 he founded a family olive oil business on their farm in Provence. Last year, for his work in the Luxembourg Finance Industry, he was named “Chevalier de l’Ordre Grand-Ducal de la Couronne de Chêne” by Grand Duke Henri.
For the past 10 years, Thomas has supported current UCEAP students in France by hosting them at his family farm for a weekend harvest. Students participate in the harvest, alongside Thomas, his family, friends, and farm workers. Each year, Thomas and his wife Sophie celebrate the end of the harvest by preparing a delicious Thanksgiving feast. UCEAP receives notes of appreciation from students who say that their stay on the farm was the highlight of their study abroad experience! Giving back to current UC students by providing a unique experience exemplifies Thomas’s commitment and service to UCEAP and the study abroad community.
At the award ceremony in Scotland, Thomas talked about the greater impact of study abroad. “In preparation for accepting this award, I watched several videos and read the stories from previous recipients. The impressive winners mentioned how spending a year abroad was profoundly formative. It led me to think about my own experience. The word that occurs to me is confidence, in particular self-confidence. I think this is the greatest impact EAP has on the students. No one gives you confidence, it is not genetic, you can’t buy it or study it, it doesn’t necessarily come with age. Yet, as I look back on my career, it was of capital importance. I am not talking about hubris or blind overconfidence. I am talking about the knowledge that you will prevail, continue, overcome. It is the inner strength of knowing that you will get to the other side of a disappointment, a challenge, a loss, a failure. You don’t need to develop it in one go; you build it over time, via simple things and small steps.”
The Distinguished Alumni Award is named after Linda Duttenhaver, a UCEAP Bordeaux 1975-76 alumna and scholarship donor. Like Thomas and the confidence he gained while studying abroad, Linda credits her time in Bordeaux with helping her overcome her own inexperience and shyness. She returned after her year abroad with a global perspective and maturity and credits her successful real estate career with the skills and confidence she learned while studying abroad. We are happy to be recognizing Thomas with this award in Linda’s name.
Thomas is thankful for the close friendships he made while abroad. He met his wife Sophie, a French exchange student, in the Economics Department during that year. Fellow UCSC alum and childhood friend Bruce McWilliams nominated Thomas for this award, and we were thrilled he was able to join us in Scotland for the presentation. Rob Cowieson, a St Andrews alum, and a lifelong friend was also there to celebrate Thomas.
Congratulations to Thomas on receiving the Linda Duttenhaver Distinguished Alumni Award! We are forever appreciative of your commitment to international education and support of UC students!