Lopez graduated from Oberlin College in 1989 with a B.A., received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1993, and his DMA from the University of Texas, Austin in 2000.
Tom Lopez currently teaches at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and serves as chair of TIMARA (Technology in Music and Related Arts), a program established in 1967. TIMARA was the first-ever electronic music program at a music conservatory.[3]