He received a BA in Economics from Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. After serving as a Medical Service Corps Officer in the US Army and a brief stint as a medical supply salesman before he entered Clinic Management in 1976. Over the next 20 years he managed two orthopaedic practices in Middle Tennessee. In 1996 he started the Medical Practice Services Department at State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company. He has completed a tenure on the Board of the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE) as Chair. Tom has been very active in professional matters, serving as President of Tennessee Medical Group Management Association (TMGMA), President of Southern Section MGMA, Finance/Audit Chair for the national MGMA, served on the national MGMA Board of Directors, and Chair BONES (professional association for orthopaedic group managers). At the October 2010 meeting of the MGMA Annual Conference and the Conclave of ACMPE in New Orleans, Tom was given the Harry J. Harwick Lifetime Achievement Award - This award is MGMA and ACMPE’s highest recognition to an individual who has displayed a lifetime of achievement and made outstanding, nationally recognized contributions to healthcare administration over the course of his career. In the Spring of 2010 Tom was presented The Martha Johnson Distinguished Service Award by TMGMA. In 2011 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nashville Business Journal. In 2017 TMGMA created the Thomas H. Stearns Executive of the Year Award to recognizes a medical practice administrator who has demonstrated noteworthy achievement of medical practice management proficiency, enhancement of strategic and operational effectiveness of health care delivery in his/her practice and community, and qualities of exceptional leadership. In 2021 Tom was presented the Grace Morales Commitment Award by Dismas House for his decisive leadership of Dismas. In 2009 Tom completed the four year program in Education for Ministry from the School of Theology at the University of South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Tom is very active in community affairs and served as the Board Chair for Dismas House, an agency to house and support men transitioning from incarceration. He was the Board Chair for United Way of Williamson County and Board Chair of Waves, Inc, an agency caring for the developmentally disabled. He and his wife, Marida, are members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Franklin where he has served as Senior Warden and two terms on the Vestry. They have five grown children, 11 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.