Tom Hornaday lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona, where the member of the Class of 1963 is a commercial real estate developer. A UC Berkeley Trustee, Builder of Berkeley, founder of the Greater Good Center on the Cal campus and a member of the California Rugby Advisory Board, Hornaday has pursued a life of personal responsibility to realize his potential and help others to reach theirs, a resolve that found its perfect match on the rugby pitch as a member of the Golden Bears.
 
"When I was a student, I had a firm concept of the importance of the balance between mind, spirit and body," Hornaday said. "Rugby fit into that philosophy. It was an ideal sport for me."
 
Hornaday and his wife, Ruth Ann, who received her degree in sociology in 1961, have donated millions of dollars to the University, with sizable gifts going to campus research in addition to Intercollegiate Athletics, along with their commitment to launch the Greater Good Science Center on campus.
 
Hornaday is the founder of Hornaday Development, LLC, a leading commercial real-estate developer in the Phoenix area. He serves on the leadership council of the Mayo Clinic and the advisory board of the Arizona Cancer Center, his personal interests focused on tackling major challenges in science and medicine.
 
Hornaday arrived at Cal in the fall of 1958 as a 17-year-old freshman. He had been active in 4H from age 9 through 14, raising lambs and then beef cattle. A varsity football player and golfer at Chula Vista High School, he came to Cal determined to play freshman football even though he was not on the radar as a recruit.
 
Hornaday's line coach on the freshman football squad was Jim "Truck" Cullom, a future Cal Hall of Famer who took a liking to the hard-working end and encouraged him to add another tradition to his undergraduate experience. After playing frosh football his first fall on campus, Hornaday joined the well-worn pathway from the gridiron to the rugby pitch and joined the JV squad, where the legendary Cullom also coached the JV ruggers.
 
"Even then I realized l was learning more about being successful and working hard playing sports at Cal than I was in the classroom," said Hornaday, who played in the back row and fell in love with the sport that spring. "Self-discipline, perseverance, respect for the opponent and all the things you learn from being a student-athlete were important ingredients for my professional success."
 
Following his freshman year at Cal, Hornaday transferred to UCLA for two years to be closer to his mother, whose long battle with cancer was entering its final stages. During that period, he returned to Memorial Stadium to play rugby, this time as a Bruin in the spring of 1961. As the two teams jostled after a whistle, Hornaday found himself being held back by someone. "Hornaday?" the stranger said. It was Truck.
 
After his mother passed, Hornaday returned to Berkeley for the start of the 1961-62 academic year. Due to his transfer, he was ineligible to play football that fall, but in the spring of 1962, he earned his first Cal varsity letter in rugby. The Bears featured many legendary names among Hornaday's fellow first varsity letterwinners that spring, including Steve Nesbit, who arrived at Cal having already been capped as a New Zealand All Black, and the late Jim Anderson, Loren Hawley and Jerry Walter. They were coached on the varsity by another future Cal Hall of Famer, head coach Miles "Doc" Hudson.
 
"I played every minute of every game except the first game and the last game," Hornaday said of the '62 campaign. The Bears finished the year 11-5, winning three of four vs. University of British Columbia and holding their own against a New Zealand touring side in Memorial Stadium before ending the year at the Monterey Rugby Tournament.
 

Coming back to Berkeley as a fifth-year senior, Hornaday was poised to play his way atop the football depth chart as an end on the gridiron in fall of 1962, but a knee injury knocked him out for the season. He recovered in time to play his final spring of rugby, albeit at less than 100 percent, before graduating and receiving orders to active duty in the U.S. Navy.
 
He returned to the Bay Area as a naval ensign home-ported on Treasure Island, which enabled him to reunite with his future wife. Following his discharge from the Navy, Hornaday went to work in San Francisco for the Operating Engineers Union and continued to play rugby, returning to Memorial Stadium once again as a member of the Olympic Club to play Cal in 1966. The Rugby Bears, who had made international headlines during their Australian tour in the summer of '65, were considered juggernauts. But Hornaday and the O-Club held Cal to a 9-9 tie. After the match, Coach Hudson approached Hornaday, who had been a contemporary of Doc's son, Bob, at Cal.
       
"Hornaday, you're not looking too bad, yet," Doc said with his typical wit.
 
As he ventured into the world, Hornaday found the lessons from Cal rugby resonated more and more.
 
"Those experiences have carried over into my adult life and I have enjoyed considerable success for a small businessman," Hornaday said. "That definitely would not have happened except for the lessons I learned on the rugby field."
 
Now 80 years old, Hornaday is not shy about his urgency to activate change in his lifetime. Asked about rugby's alignment with his goals, Hornaday called it the ultimate platform for life's lessons.
 
"We take so much for granted," he said. "People need to understand they're part of a larger whole. On the rugby pitch, you are keenly aware of that."
 
Bud Lyons, who chairs the California Rugby Advisory Board, spoke for the entire Cal rugby family in praising Hornaday's support for the program. "Tom Hornaday has consistently demonstrated in his philanthropy that he is a tremendous custodian of our most treasured traditions," he said. "His guidance and leadership are greatly appreciated on the CRAB board."
 
In 2001, the Hornadays founded the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley as an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to enabling people to become productive members of society while finding personal satisfaction. The research center includes a fellowship program, public events and on-line publications that are accessed by people in more than 200 countries.
 
"I think because of his commitment to campus and the Greater Good Science Center, Tom's voice resonates throughout our University community," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "When he advocates for Cal rugby, it is heard and appreciated as a thoughtful perspective. Whenever Cal rugby has needed Tom, he's been there for us. Mind you, he started making tackles for us as a teenager and now, 60-plus years later, he is still supporting the team. That is Cal Rugby Forever epitomized."
 
Another example of Hornaday's passions is the development of the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building in Scottsdale. The commitment to fight cancer honors not only Tom's mother, but also the Hornadays' daughter, Kristin, who died of melanoma in 1993. Science and medicine are better equipped to crack the challenges they face as a result of the Hornadays' generosity, as are the many areas of the University that Tom and Ruth Ann support.
 
"There are big challenges out there, and I want to do everything I can to help solve them in the time I have left," Hornaday said. "The kids that play rugby at Cal learn these important life lessons very well. They're indelibly engraved into their personality regardless of what they do after they leave Cal, and that's the name of the game."
 
Tom saw the team in 2009 at the home of former teammate Dennis Wise, who hosted the Bears during their visit to Southern California. After defeating Wyoming, VMI and Navy at the San Diego Invitational, the Bears arrived at the reception in their team blazers, transmitting a reassuring timelessness to the alumni on hand.
 
"It would be hard to think of another group of young men who have equally impressed me, as a group, or one on one." Hornaday recalled. "In fact, there isn't one."
 
Cal rugby and the rest of the Cal community feel the same way about Tom Hornaday.