Thomas Holder was a doctor at Children's Mercy Hospital. He served as the first Surgeon in Chief for the hospital starting in 1959 and established the open heart surgery program. He created a heart-lung bypass machine out of spare parts at the hospital when there was not the budget to purchase a new machine (pictured here). He served as the interim medical director between 1994-1996. He is best known for partnering with Keith Ashcraft to author and edit Pediatric Surgery, known simply as "Holder and Ashcraft".