Thomas Chris Leppert (born June 15, 1954) is an American businessman and former politician who is the former CEO of Kaplan, Inc., one of the world's largest education providers.

[9] Leppert is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in economics with cum laude honors in 1977 and served as Student Body President.

Simply stated, using generic terms like honesty and integrity are not near enough[...] People rarely get in trouble or lose their compass in one fell swoop... it is a series of small compromises, missteps that lead to a landslide... and a lost sense of self.

[20] Leppert was chairman and CEO of the Turner Corporation (a subsidiary of German construction company Hochtief AG) prior to being elected mayor of Dallas.

[19][21] During his career, Leppert also held positions at McKinsey & Co., Trammell Crow Company, Bank of Hawaii, and Castle & Cooke Properties, Inc.[10] Leppert was elected to the Board of Directors of Washington Mutual (at the time, the largest savings and loan association in the United States) in 2005; as part of his election, he was also named to the Board of Directors' Governance and Audit committees.

[32] Some attribute his win to unexpected support from leaders within the African American community of the traditionally Democratic southern section of the city and his appeal to Republicans.

[33][34] After his first year in office, Leppert's runoff election opponent (Oakley) praised him for his leadership and for delivering on his campaign promises: "There's no question: Tom's done an excellent job.

As he did during the mayoral campaign, Leppert made education a theme of his inaugural address, proclaiming: "when a big issue like underperforming schools is holding back an entire city and hindering our growth, then it is everyone's problem."

Finally, he firmly restated his commitment to enact the Trinity River Corridor plan, calling the project "a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and it will be the catalyst that puts Dallas on the world stage, if we seize the moment and get it done.

[41][42] In January 2008, Mayor Leppert embarked on a trade mission to Monterrey, Mexico, to promote Dallas's medical, educational, and corporate institutions.

Leppert was joined by more than a dozen officials from city government, the Dallas Independent School District and various health care and commercial institutions in the largest mission of its kind in years.

[46] Leppert is also credited with persuading AT&T to relocate to Dallas as well as encouraging the start-up of a new $15 million call center that plans to ultimately employ 300 workers.

"[49] Following the federal government's failure to approve Leppert's request for stimulus funds, in February 2009 he announced plans to seek an alternate form of financing.

[50] In an effort to reinforce the success of the hotel, Leppert led the City Council to lobby Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to change the alignment of a proposed light rail line through downtown; under Leppert's plan, the line would be diverted from the center of downtown to stop at the hotel and would include a subway segment that would travel beneath the convention center to an underground station at City Hall before rejoining the original alignment.

They also pointed out that the Federal Transit Administration makes the final call on where the route should go, and the hotel alignment had been shown to attract fewer riders, at higher costs, than other options.

[35] In November 2009, the city council passed a series of four ethics reforms championed by Leppert that:[59] Leppert ignited a controversy when he opposed no-bid concessions contract extensions with current Love Field food vendor Star Concessions Ltd. and newspaper and book vendor Hudson Retail Dallas during a March 3, 2010, city council meeting.

[60] On February 22, 2010, the city council's Transportation and Environment Committee had previously voted to extend contracts with the existing concessions for through 2026 with an additional 3-year option and exclusive rights to 54 percent of vending space in a new terminal scheduled to open in 2014, instead of opening the contract up to public bidding[60] In an April 26, 2010, editorial, The Dallas Morning News called the lack of transparency and fiduciary responsibility "troubling".

[63] According to a June 17, 2010 article in the Dallas Observer, Gilbert Aranza—owner of Star Concessions Ltd.—accused Leppert of hypocrisy given his support for similar no-bid contract extensions during his tenure on the D/FW Airport Board.

[65][66] In subsequent years, however, Leppert opposed property tax rate increases in the city of Dallas and proposed spending cuts to balance the budget.

[69] Despite Leppert's strong objections, the city council voted by an 8-7 majority to pass a 6.5% property tax rate increase anyway—the largest in 20 years.

[76] However, Hutchison retained her Senate seat, and her gubernatorial campaign ended when she lost the 2010 Texas Republican primary to incumbent Rick Perry.

[9] Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz eventually won the 2012 Republican nomination for the open Senate seat, defeating Lt.