About Thomas Holland
Thomas Holland is a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas. He holds a BA in Fine Art and an MA and a PhD in anthropology, all from the University of Missouri. He also earned a JD from the University of Hawaii and is admitted to the bar in Arkansas and the District of Columbia. He was curator of the University of Missouri’s Museum of Anthropology before accepting a position as Scientific Director of the Department of Defense laboratory in Hawaii that searches for and identifies missing and unaccounted-for American military personnel. In that role, he led recovery missions in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, China, Iraq, Kuwait, and North and South Korea. During his 25-year tenure at the lab, the remains of over 1600 missing men were identified and returned home, including the Vietnam War Unknown Soldier. He is one of only about 160 board-certified forensic anthropologists in the world. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and a consultant to numerous national and international groups, such as the Department of Justice and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. He is the second youngest recipient of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences’ Lifetime Achievement award and in 2021 was awarded the Career Service Award by the Secretary of Defense. He is the author of over 50 scholarly articles in anthropology, forensic science, and the law, as well as several novels. He currently is Research Professor and Director of the Forensic Institute for Research and Education at Middle Tennessee State University.
