Tom Phalen

Tom Phalen is an Associate Teaching Professor at the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL) at Rice University, where he has been since July 2015. With a distinguished 38-year career at Fluor, a Fortune 100 Engineering and Construction Company, he brings extensive leadership and management experience to his role. Throughout his career, Phalen held various positions, including process engineer, project manager, and General Manager of Fluor’s Houston office, where he oversaw teams ranging from a few members to over 2,000. His experience encompasses leading large, multicultural teams on complex projects and managing operations across multiple offices.At Rice University, Dr. Phalen teaches courses focused on engineering project management, including Engineering Project Management: Initiating and Planning, Engineering Project Management: Risk, Quality, Teams, and Procurement, and Engineering Project Management: Scope, Time and Cost Management. He combines his technical engineering expertise with practical lessons learned from his extensive career to prepare students for leadership roles in today's global environment. As a Project Management Professional (PMP), he aims to equip future engineers with the skills necessary to lead effectively and manage projects successfully in a competitive landscape.