Thomas J. Shuster has served as Director of Recreation and Parks for the Town of Ocean City, Maryland since 1998. The Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department is a full service municipal recreation and parks agency serving a peak seasonal population of over 300,000 residents and visitors. The Department provides many programs, services and facilities including 12 local parks, a skate park, tennis center, 10-1/2 miles of Atlantic Ocean beachfront and the award winning Eagle's Landing golf course. The Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department employs over 500 people and has an annual operating budget of more than $8.9 million.

Prior to his arrival in Ocean City, Tom served as the Director-Secretary of the Summit County Metro Parks in Akron, Ohio from 1995 to 1997. Before that, he was the Executive Director of the Waukegan Park District in Waukegan, Illinois from 1986 to 1995.

Tom has also served as the Director of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Community Services for the Township of East Brunswick, New Jersey (1976-1986) and Administrator of Recreation Services for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (1972-1975).

He earned his B.S. Degree in Biological Sciences (1970) and M.S. Degree in Natural Resources (1971) from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He is also a graduate of the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1984).

Tom has been an active member of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) since 1971. He served as a Director of the National Society for Park Resources (NSPR), a professional branch of NRPA.He also served as a member of the Great Lakes Regional Council for 10 years. He is currently serving as NSPR's representative to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council. Tom has also been active in four state recreation and parks associations including the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association (OPRA), the New Jersey Recreation and Parks Association (NJRPA), where he served as Secretary and Administrative Council member, the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association (IPRA), where he served as Secretary and Board member, and the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association (MRPA), where he has most recently served as Chair of the Professional Standards Committee and Executive Council member.

Tom was elected a Fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in 2003. Tom, his wife Debbie and their two sons, Eric and Timothy, live in West Ocean City, Maryland.

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