Thomas S. Chance
MSE (Civil) 1983
Founder and former CEO
C & C Technologies and ASV Global (Retired)
“Learn your industry from all directions, be tenacious, get input from others before making key decisions, and live by the Golden Rule.”
Thomas Chance was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, where his father, also a civil engineer, had founded a surveying company in support of the oil industry. Seeing the tremendous impact of electronic surveying equipment on the industry, Thomas earned a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from LSU in 1982. That same year, Thomas married his college sweetheart, Lisa Mansueto.
To compliment his background in electronics, Thomas then earned a Master’s degree from Purdue University’s School of Civil Engineering with a concentration in geodetic surveying. After five years at his father’s company, Thomas returned to Purdue and earned a Master’s degree in Management from Purdue’s Krannert Graduate Program in 1989. Thomas continued working with his father’s company until it was sold in 1991.
In 1992, Thomas founded his own surveying company, C & C Technologies, out of his home. C & C grew to become the world’s largest privately-owned oil field surveying and mapping company with 600 employees in ten offices worldwide. C & C was the first company in the world to offer autonomous underwater vehicle survey services to the oil industry and remains a world leader in the field. In April of 2015, Thomas sold C & C Technologies to Oceaneering International.
Complementing the autonomous underwater vehicle business, Thomas started ASV Global LLC in 2010 which developed autonomous surface vehicles. By 2018, ASV had 200 employees, offices in the U.S. and Europe, and had built more than 100 state-of-the-art unmanned boats for the defense and commercial sectors. ASV soon became the largest unmanned vessel company in the world. Thomas then sold ASV Global in 2018 to a major defense contractor where he remained in his leadership position until his retirement in June 2019.
Thomas has received numerous awards during his career, including the 1996 Entrepreneur of the Year for the Gulf Coast Region, the LCG International Trade Award, the Marine Technology Reporter Seamaster of the Year Award, the Junior Achievement Business Person of the Year Award. In 2018, he was named a Louisiana Legend by Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
Thomas and Lisa have been married for 38 years and continue to reside in Lafayette, LA. They have five children and six grandchildren.