Last updated 05/23/2022
The Robert P. Biller Award for extraordinary voluntary service in retirement to the students of the university, to the USC retiree community, and to the University Park neighborhood was presented to Dr. David N. Tool on December 4, 2014 by Dixon Johnson, President, Staff Retirement Organization and Robert A. Stallings, President, Retired Faculty Association.
We thank David Tool for his dedicated service to our country and to USC. He is a retired Army colonel, Vietnam combat rifle platoon leader, 1st Infantry Division (Jun 66 to Jun 67), USC Alum, and retired USC staff/faculty (Senior Lecturer-East Asian Geography). After working 17 years in China, the former USC lecturer and staff member was active in his North University Park neighborhood with the USC Community Emergency Response Team (CERT Training), planned and implemented mentoring programs for international students through USC’s Trojan Global Intergenerational Friends program (TGIF), and also helped veterans transition to campus life. Generous with his time and talents, Tool and his wife, Sharon, hosted numerous events in their home, including potluck dinners that created a sense of community and safety for residents in their area.
After receiving this award in 2014, David Tool was honored with the “Community Preparedness Leadership Award” in 2015 at the USC Emergency Preparedness Symposium and he was also a volunteer leader for the Special
Olympics World Games that year. He continued to support USC veterans and USC international students until he and his wife moved to northern California in 2017.
