About the Author
William H. Thomas, M.D.
 Winner of the Heinz Award for the Human Condition and named as one of America’s Best Leaders by the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Bill Thomas is a geriatrician and a visionary with an international reputation as one of the leading authorities on the future of aging and longevity. His honors have also included the America's Award (established by Norman Vincent Peale and sometimes called "The Nobel Prize for Goodness"), the Molly Mettler Award from the Health Promotion Institute, an award from the Giraffe Project (for sticking his neck out), and a three-year fellowship from Ashoka for his social entrepreneurship work with the Eden Alternative and improving the lives of elders. Ashoka is a global nonprofit organization that searches the world for social entrepreneurs—extraordinary individuals with unprecedented ideas for change in their communities.
Dr. Thomas is president of the Eden Alternative, a global nonprofit organization, and a professor at the University of Maryland’s Erickson School. He also consults as a Visiting Scholar to AARP. He lives near Ithaca, NY, with his wife, Judith Meyers-Thomas, and their five children: Zachary, Virgil, Haleigh Jane, Hannah, and Caleb.
A native of upstate New York, Bill Thomas attended the State University College at Cortland, where he earned a B.S. in Biology, summa cum laude, in 1982. While in college, he ran successfully for the presidency of the college's Student Association and unsuccessfully for mayor of the city of Cortland.
Before graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1986, Bill served as one of the founding editors of Murmurs, a quarterly journal of opinion. A three-year residency in Family Medicine at the University of Rochester followed medical school, and, in his third year of training, Bill was selected by the Mead Johnson Foundation as one of the top Family Medicine residents in the country. Board Certified in Family Medicine and Geriatrics, Dr. Thomas settled into a rural corner of Chenango County with his wife and partner, Judy (Jude) Meyers-Thomas, before moving to the Ithaca area. Dr. Thomas enjoys a professional life that includes patient care, teaching, research and writing, advocacy, and public speaking.
Bill and Jude have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for elders. Starting with their work on the Eden Alternative, which has attracted international attention, they are now devoting attention as well to the Green House Project. As one of the activities undertaken by their nonprofit Center for Growing and Becoming, and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Green House Project seeks to create a new kind of long-term care environment; nurturing a meaningful elderhood lies at its very heart.
You can visit Bill's Web page and learn more about his projects at www.edenalt.com. Also learn more about the Green House Project at www.thegreenhouseproject.org.
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