Thomas C. Rindfleisch

Thomas C. Rindfleisch was a leader in biomedical informatics, information retrieval, and digital library development. He served as Director of Stanford Medical Informatics, where he guided programs in clinical information systems, medical knowledge representation, and computational support for biomedical research.

Before joining Stanford, Rindfleisch served at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) as Associate Director for Computer and Communications Systems, overseeing major national information resources and pioneering efforts in online bibliographic search, full-text access, and medical information retrieval. His leadership helped shape the evolution of systems that would become essential for clinicians, researchers, and public health professionals.

At Stanford, he contributed to large collaborative projects in imaging informatics, data sharing, and knowledge management, often bridging computer science, medicine, and engineering. He also played a central role in developing standards and best practices for managing biomedical information at scale.

Rindfleisch’s work supported the foundations of electronic medical information systems and digital biomedical libraries, influencing the technology used throughout healthcare and medical research.