Tom Kopp

Tom Kopp

Waterfall Wellness Coordinator

I am professor emeritus (Education, Health, and Society) from Miami (Ohio) University, where I served on the faculty for 31 years.  I hold a PhD in Education (Motivation Psychology) from Syracuse University. Expeditionary Learning (learning by doing) has been a part of my career from my first teaching job in the 1960s when I was faculty advisor to New York State’s first Foxfire program, to recent work in the motivational properties and educational potential of the human propensity for collecting. I am former Director of School Programs for the International Bluegrass Music Association and have developed and conducted a constellation of bluegrass-based learning activities, working with bluegrass festivals in 15 states. I founded The Foundation for Bluegrass Music, the philanthropic wing of IBMA. Since retiring to Asheville, I have been an educational consultant/board member with the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby and a member of the board of the Franklin School of Innovation. I enjoy forging artistic ironwork in my blacksmith shop and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. A believer in lifelong outdoor adventure, I maintain interest in caving and orienteering, and I’m a proud Adirondack 46er, having climbed all the high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. My passion for waterfalls in the Adirondacks has been eagerly transplanted to North Carolina’s bounty of wonderful cascades.