Tom Humphrey served as State Director of Ohio Thespians from 1975 through 1978. He oversaw the establishment of the first Ohio Thespian State Conference, held in February 1976. The State Board consisted of only Mr. Humphrey, three other adult troupe sponsors, and four State Student Officers. That Board planned and operated the Conference, which is remarkable, considering today’s State Board numbers thirty people. The Conference, held at Newark High School and hosted by Mr. Humphrey, featured three full length performances, a one act play marathon, twenty-four workshops, a boutique, troupe displays, a dance and swim party, and an election of new State Student Officers. Tom also served as founder of and producing director for the Young People's Theater in Cincinnati and the Weathervane Playhouse in Newark.

Tom left Ohio for California in the late 1970s, where he became producing artistic director for the Center Repertory Company. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in directing from The University of California, San Diego, where he worked under the Tony Award winning director Alan Schneider, master acting teacher Arthur Wagner, and the renowned Shakespearian and character actor Eric Christmas. In addition, he was producing artistic director for the Center Repertory Company in Walnut Creek, California. Tom served as visiting faculty at The University of California, Santa Cruz and California State University, Monterey Bay. He spent seventeen years as the artistic director of The Western Stage, a TCG constituent theater in Salinas, California.

In January 2002, Tom moved to North Carolina to become Head of the Department of Theatre at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, a position he still holds. Tom has directed over 250 plays and musicals in his career, including the acclaimed three-part world premiere adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden.