E. Thayer Gaston graduated from Lewis High
School in 1919 and took his bachelor's degree from
Sterling College in 1935. He taught at Sublette,
Hunter, Minneapolis, and Garden City and was
music director at Garden City Junior College. He
joined the faculty at The University of Kansas in
1936 and later took his Ph.D. there. He was
professor of trumpet, founder of the music therapy
program, and chaired the Department of Music
Education and Music Therapy. He was the author of
Music In Therapy and numerous articles in
professional journals. He was president of the
National Association for Music Therapy and held
several offices in that organization. He was active
in the MENC and served on its national committee
on music therapy and on the editorial committee
and the Journal of Research in Music Education.
He is cited in The New Grove Dictionary of
American Music and is a member of the MENC Hall
of Fame.