Thomas Richardson was appointed to the FDNY in November 1980. He has been a chief officer since September 2000. Richardson was designated as Chief of the Fire Academy in April of 2017 and then Chief of Training in 2018. In February 2019, he was appointed as the Chief of Fire Operations, until his promotion to Chief of Department on June 26, 2021. Richardson's undergraduate degree is from SUNY Empire State College. He received a Master of Arts degree in security studies from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School and has attended the Columbia University Fire Officers Management Institute and the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.