Thomas A. Crumm is a third-generation autoworker born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He worked his way up the ladder from working with tools to being part of former GM head Roger Smith’s think tank — Corporate Strategic Planning Group — for six years. This allowed him to attend executive programs at Harvard, Wharton School of Business and Northwestern. However, he always considered himself a “hands-on industrial engineer.”

In the mid-1990s, Crumm was appointed to lead GM Chairman John Smale’s Scenario Planning Staff. He was also appointed by Smith to attempt to expand the Saturn experiment across the corporation. Since leaving GM, Crumm has worked with companies in the development of hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles.

In Crumm’s new book, "What is good for General Motors?," he talks about the many lessons he learned from the rise and fall of Saturn that could be used to further the understanding of how the American manufacturing sector can be restored to its world class position. What makes Crumm’s book different that other books about the state of the automotive industry is that his covers engineering, manufacturing and product development, which are all the areas where Crumm feels productive change can be made

Thomas A. Crumm will be at Nicola’s Books on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. for a discussion and signing of his book. For more information, please contact Nicola’s Books at 734-662-0600 or at www.nicolasbooks.com.