Dr. Thomas J. Fairchild retired in August 2018 after 40 years at the UNTHSC. In his last position, as Vice President for the Office of Organizational Excellence, he was accountable for driving institutional performance through ongoing performance, operational program assessments, internal and external reporting, organizational surveys and the educational business intelligence decision management process.  In addition, he also had responsibility for accreditation efforts related to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

He currently has academic appointments in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Systems in the School of Public Health and in the Institute for Healthy Aging Center and Alzheimer Disease and Neurodegenerative Disorders. 

His primary interests are quality improvement, leadership, organizational culture, and strategic management. He has also done extensive work related to developing and implementing educational programs for faculty and staff related to leadership and strategic planning. Dr. Fairchild presently teaches courses on leadership, strategic management and marketing, and health care quality management.

For more than 40 years, Dr. Fairchild has been involved in the field of gerontology and health services management. His research has been sponsored by grants from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation; National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Administration on Aging, and various national and local foundations.

Dr. Fairchild was the Principal Investigator on a project funded by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation dealing with innovative delivery models related to transitions of care from skilled nursing facilities, assisted living, independent living, and home health to hospitals.  He also has been involved in the for development of the Geriatric Practice Leadership Institute in collaboration with faculty from the Neeley Business School and Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences at Texas Christian University.  This project is supported by a grant from the Health Services and Resource Administration. 

He was the Principal Investigator for the Texas Alzheimer’s Research Consortium (TARC) at UNTHSC. TARC is a state-funded collaboration between five of the state’s leading medical research institutions to improve early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Dr. Fairchild received his B.S. in management and his M.A. in sociology from Wayne State University. He completed his Ph.D. in sociology with a specialization in aging from Wayne State University. Prior to joining UNTHSC, he was a member of the faculty and chair at the Center for Studies in Aging at the University of North Texas.

He is a member and has served on the boards and committees of numerous associations including the Assisted Living Federation of America, Leading Age (formally American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging), the Gerontological Society of America, Fort Worth Sister Cities International, and Senior Citizen Services of Greater Tarrant County, Inc. He was a member of the Kisco Senior Living Advisory Board and currently serves on the advisory committee for the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living (CEAL).  He received the Distinguished Service Award from Leading Age and is a Fellow in the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.