Thomas Koczara has been named vice president of human resources and equal opportunity at Coastal Carolina University, effective Oct. 18, 2021. He presently serves as the associate vice president of human resources at the University of Wyoming (UW).

“Tom has a proven track record of leading large-scale human resources operations,” said CCU President Michael T. Benson. “With a strong background that includes both higher education and corporate experience, I believe he is well-prepared to lead our HR initiatives at Coastal Carolina University and to ensure we are a best-practice institution.”

Koczara, who will serve as a member of the University’s President’s Cabinet, will provide strategic planning, management, and executive level leadership of the Human Resources and Equal Opportunity division. The division includes employment, classification/compensation, employee benefits, performance management, employee relations, equal opportunity, HR operations, and HR policy administration.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to join the CCU team at such an exciting and pivotal time,” Koczara said.

At UW, Koczara leads a team of 25 professionals in the delivery of all HR services for a campus with 2,900 faculty and staff. He has led numerous projects and initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion across campus, improve HR processes and services, and create numerous employee-centric actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to UW, Koczara served for nine years as the senior human resources director at Roche Tissue Diagnostics in Tucson, Ariz. His professional background also includes serving in HR leadership roles with Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash., and Toyota Financial Services in Chandler, Ariz., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Koczara earned a bachelor’s degree in financial administration from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.