The Beta-Nu Chapter of
KAPPA SIGMA
The University of Kentucky
Dr. Tom ‘Gug’ Guglielmo pledged Beta-Nu in the spring of 1971 and lived at 460 Hilltop for two and a half years. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1975 and graduated from the University of Louisville Dental School in 1979.
In 1980 Tom moved to Houston, Texas and was an associate dentist in a private dental practice for a year. It was during this year that he began a continuing education direction leading him to explore wellness focused health care treatment for patients.
In the early 1980’s he served as executive director of the Holistic Dental Association and later moved to Lexington and was the dental director for the Holistic Health Center in Lexington, Kentucky. He established a dental staff for this primary care medical office in Lexington. They would develop wellness programs based on a multidiscipline approach and focus on diet, exercise and relaxation.
Tom was introduced to his future wife by a fraternity brother. He married Kathy and moved back to Houston. In the 1990’s, he had two children and built a busy private dental practice. At the end of the 90’s a horseback riding accident ended his career as a ‘sit down and look in the mouth’ dentist. He sold his practice and moved to the Woodlands, Texas.
After the ending of his dental clinical career he consulted for dental insurance companies and served on a dental board of directors for a dental insurance company.
Tom began another career in the mergers and acquisitions of dental offices. He opened a Houston office for McLerran and Associates and brought in a partner, developed the Houston market and became co-owner of McLerran’s transition business for Houston and East Texas. He has helped hundreds of dentists transition in and out of dentistry for the past decade and a half. He is selling his half of the transition company at the end of 2019 and going on to his next project in life.
In the mid 1990’s, Tom purchased fifty acres across the street from Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, Kentucky. This site is in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Just this past fall the local county repealed prohibition and Slade is continuing to grow as a tourist destination. He plans on developing this site focusing on hospitality, lodging and potentially a health spa.
“Dr. Thomas Anthony Guglielmo ‘71, Tom (aka) “Gug” is a brother that has kept many of the 1970’s Beta-Nu brothers in touch and close. If not for Tom’s dedication to keep us all connected, we would have missed out of over 30 years of close brotherhood.”
Kappa Sigma means a lot to Tom. Beta-Nu and Kappa Sigma gave him a core group of lifelong friends and mentors. His advice to undergraduates is, “look for mentors – some will be your current brothers. By mentor I mean somebody that you can call, and they will take your call and you can bounce ideas off them and just share experiences. Appreciate it now and keep the bonds.