Affiliation: DoD JPAC Central Identification Laboratory Hickam Air Force Base
Thomas D. Holland was raised in the town of Fort Smith, Arkansas. He enrolled at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1975, graduating four years later, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a BA in Fine Arts. In 1985 he received his MA and in 1991 his PhD in Anthropology. During his final graduate years and immediately following, he served as Curator of the UMC Museum of Anthropology.In 1992 Dr. Holland took a position as forensic anthropologist for the Department of Defense Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii (part of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC)). In 1993 Dr. Holland was named the Senior Anthropologist for the CIL and the following year assumed the responsibilities as the Scientific Director for the entire organization. He currently is dual hated as the Deputy to the Commander for JPAC and the Scientific Director of the CIL. Since 1992 he has led recovery teams around the world including sites in China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and South Korea. In 1995 he led a then Top Secret recovery into the desert of Iraq in an attempt to recover the remains of the only U.S. serviceman unaccounted for from Desert Storm. Since then he has led several recoveries into North Korea and Kuwait. In 1996 Dr. Holland became the 51st person to achieve Diplomate status with the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. Today there have been less than 80 diplomas issued and only about 60 Diplomates remain active in the field of forensic anthropology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a member of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, a member of the graduate faculty at the University of Hawaii, and a forensic consultant for the New York State Police. Dr. Holland has published widely in such journals as American Antiquity, Current Anthropology, Journal of Forensic Sciences, and the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. In addition, he is the author of the mystery novels, One Drop of Blood and KIA. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons.
