Thomas McNeely Hobson, MHA, MMEd, MT-BC, CCLS

The words of Audrey Hepburn, “As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, the other for helping others”, have driven Thomas McNeely Hobson throughout his education and career. This drive, coupled with his determination and ingenuity lead him to create opportunities where others see obstacles. Mr. Hobson and his brother were raised by their parents in locations all over the southeastern United States. Since childhood, Mr. Hobson exhibited a desire to help those in need. At age four, Mr. Hobson offered to console his brother by singing to him, and thus began his quest to connect with and bring comfort to people through music. After studying music in South Carolina at Presbyterian College, Mr. Hobson sought to expand his knowledge and skill by studying music therapy. During his studies at East Carolina University, he completed a music therapy internship at Florida State Hospital, a large state mental hospital. However, it was his work at Pitt Memorial Hospital, on a pediatric unit, which ultimately drew him to working with hospitalized children. In pursuit of this mission, Mr. Hobson began working at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee since 2002 where he became the first Director of Child Life Services. Concurrently, he served as the Interim Child Life Consultant for Sidra Medical and Research Center in Doha, Qatar. Mr. and enjoyed assisting the hospital to develop its first child life program. Currently, Mr. Hobson is serving as the Business Manager to the Children’s Research Foundation Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. With a desire to deepen his leadership knowledge, Mr. Hobson went on to earn a master’s degree in healthcare administration. He has held a number of volunteer positions at the Child Life Council and the American Music Therapy Association. Creative, intuitive and humorous, Mr. Hobson’s blog about his work with hospitalized children here and aboard is an inspiration to his colleagues as well as to his patients and their families. Mr. Hobson looks forward to working with Standish Foundation, and is most excited about knowing that children and families will benefit from this global collaboration.