W. John Thomas

National Public Radio has described John Thomas as “a history buff, a law professor, an author, a musician, a guitar enthusiast, and a music nerd, all wrapped up in one person.” Add filmmaker and endurance athlete, and he'll take it!

John holds a BA and JD from the University of Arizona and an LLM and MPH from Yale University. John teaches international law and health law. John's 200 + publications address topics from gun violence to health policy to autism to music and musical instruments and have appeared in law reviews, medical journals, major newspapers, music publications, and the Oxford Dictionary of Music.

John's book, Kalamazoo Gals: A Story of the Extraordinary Women and Gibson's "Banner" Guitars of WWII (American History Press, 2013), centers on the oral histories of twelve women who appeared in a 1944 photograph and secretly built musical instruments during WWII. It has been featured on NPR, NBC, and was the subject of an hour-long BBC radio documentary. The documentary film based on the book that John co-produced traveled the 2025 film festival circuit, where it won numerous awards, including Best Short Documentary at the Social Justice and Cine Paris film festivals. John has now optioned the book and his life story to a Hollywood film production company for the production of a "Kalamazoo Gals" scripted feature.

John's book, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Struggle, and Violence along the US/Mexico Border: An Oral History (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017), features oral histories, mainly of members of the ranching families who have lived in the Mexican state of Sonora and the corresponding territory in Arizona.

John's current, in-progress book, Child Refugees—Exploring Public Health, Mental Health, Epigenetic, Neurological and Legal Needs (Springer Nature, 2026), addresses the many challenges facing child refugees and asylum seekers around the globe.

John's other current, in-progress book, The Acoustic Guitar: Inside the World's Most Popular Musical Instrument (Oxford University Press, 2026), explores the physics, acoustics, and human response to the acoustic guitar.