Tom Holm is a professor in the Native American Studies program at the University of Arizona. Holm is a registered member of the Plains Cherokee Tribe. He is also of Muskogee descent. Holm served in the United States marines during the Vietnam War. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Oklahoma. Besides being part of the University of Arizona's Native American Studies program he was previously a professor of political science at that institution. Among works by Holm are Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls: The Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War and The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Native Americans and Whites in the Progressive Era (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005). In 2008 a novel by him entitled Osage Rose was published.