App State alumnus Tommy Guy ’07 shares remarks at the 2024 Appalachian Scholarship Celebration as the featured donor speaker. Guy is a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences — holding degrees in religion and philosophy and mathematics — and has established multiple scholarships within the college. Photo by Chase Reynolds
BOONE, N.C. — Learning to approach problems from an interdisciplinary perspective has long been one of the defining characteristics of an Appalachian State University education. Tommy Guy ’07 said the out-of-the-box thinking he learned as a Mountaineer has been fundamental to his success since graduating from the university.
Now Guy — who works at Microsoft as a principal architect for Copilot AI — remains an engaged member of the App State Community, investing in students and programs across the university.
Cross-curricular connections
Guy arrived at App State as a transfer student, uncertain of what he wanted to study but intrigued by what he heard about the university from his student peers.
“Everyone I knew who had gone to App had great experiences,” said Guy. “It seemed like they were not just happy but really exploring themselves.”
Once on the Boone campus, Guy began to pursue a double major in philosophy and religion and mathematics — two disciplines with more in common than meets the eye, according to Guy.
“Both math and philosophy rely on logic,” he said, noting that both disciplines force learners to articulate and defend their thinking — whether constructing a geometric proof or justifying a worldview.
Guy credits his first philosophy class, under Dr. Kim Q. Hall, with challenging him to look at reality in a different way and to grapple with ideas he had never considered before. He said Hall encouraged students to engage deeply with differing perspectives — whether those of the authors of assigned texts or of peers in class — and to take the time to consider how contexts shape the way people think.
Guy also recognized Hall for pushing him to refine his writing skills and become a better communicator.
Guy’s then-emerging interest in computer science drove his decision to study mathematics. Drawn to the theoretical side of the field, he knew a solid foundation in mathematics would prepare him for the complex algebra that underlies computer programming and machine learning.
Tommy Guy ’07 credits his App State education with giving him the tools to manage a multidisciplinary team of researchers and developers in his current role as a principal architect for Microsoft’s Copilot artificial intelligence tool. Photo submitted
Closing communication gaps
In Guy’s current role at Microsoft, he finds himself constantly exercising the skills he learned during his time at App State, he shared.
Guy, whose team builds artificial intelligence (AI) models, describes many aspects of his role as “translational,” because he serves as a point of contact between the developers programming the AI software and the product managers concerned with user experience.
“Researchers have one mindset and set of incentives,” explained Guy, “and pure product managers have different ones.”
Understanding these different outlooks and finding common ground between them is crucial to creating solutions and continually improving Microsoft’s products, according to Guy. He attributes his ability to effectively communicate across teams to the time he spent navigating diverse perspectives during his studies at App State.
He also said that the classes in the philosophy program primed him to think about the ethical implications of AI work, and how to create programs that are safe, trustworthy and fair.
App State alumnus Tommy Guy ’07, far left, was featured as the donor speaker at the 2024 Appalachian Scholarship Celebration. Also pictured are App State Chancellor Heather Norris, second from left, and student speakers Victor Tovar ’24, second from right, and Emma Shepherd, a senior music education major from Boone. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Investing in the next generation
Today, Guy is eager to help current Mountaineers access the kind of transformational educational opportunities that defined his own time at App State.
He currently serves as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Council, has established an endowed scholarship for students in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and, in his estate plans, has designated funds for the establishment of endowed scholarships in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences.
In addition, in 2023, he established the Computer Science Alumni Scholarship to provide students in the Department of Computer Science with funds that can be applied not only to tuition, but also to the costs associated with internships and other industry-centered experiences.
Developing a network of relationships within the industry is of critical importance for career preparation, said Guy, and he is eager to create new avenues for connecting students with alumni and other industry professionals.
He also works with faculty in the computer science department to stage mock interviews for students that help prepare them for the post-graduation job search. While such opportunities are usually aimed at graduating seniors, Guy makes his mock interviews available to non-seniors as well, believing that it is important to create avenues for students to learn from industry professionals earlier in their university careers.
“My goal is to help students with a few more years at App understand what we’re looking for in time to take action — like taking specific classes, or seeking out internships or projects in particular areas,” he said.
He hopes to mobilize other App State alumni to offer assistance to students in similar ways — a vision he shared as the featured donor speaker at the university’s 2024 Appalachian Scholarship Celebration, encouraging fellow alumni and donors to seek out opportunities to pledge their time as well as their financial resources to students.
Guy was recognized by the College of Arts and Sciences for his service to students as well as for his professional accomplishments at the 2024 Alumni Awards Gala.
A broader way of thinking
Reflecting on what was most meaningful about his time at App State, Guy spoke of the opportunities he had to engage in interdisciplinary learning and to exchange ideas with people of different backgrounds and different ways of thinking.
“There’s just something about the kind of people that App attracts that exposes you to people who are not like you,” he said. This, combined with the way App State encourages students to challenge their own preconceptions and explore new ideas, is what Guy thinks makes the App State Experience so unique.
“The degrees were important,” said Guy, “but not as important as the space to process values.”
Guy said that while he has encountered many people with significant specialized knowledge, it’s rare to find people with the breadth of knowledge and experience that distinguishes an App State graduate. That breadth of knowledge, he contends, is what enables an individual to contextualize issues — and people — in a way that empowers innovative and empathetic problem-solving.
“At App State,” he said, “I learned how to think.”
After graduating summa cum laude from App State, Guy went on to earn two master’s degrees from Wake Forest University, one in mathematics and one in computer science.
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About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
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