The National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership announced that Tom Hudner III, a veteran fundraising executive and the son of a Medal of Honor Recipient whose story was enshrined in the film, “Devotion,” has been named vice president for development and strategic initiatives.
Hudner’s addition comes at a critical time for the Center for Leadership, currently raising money to develop a $75 million, 50,000-square-foot conference center and immersive experience at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. At the same time, the Center for Leadership will begin to roll out, in the coming months, a comprehensive series of educational programs to teach leadership skills using the core values of the Medal of Honor as a foundation. This robust digital platform will allow the Center for Leadership to reach a national audience of learners with lessons and experiences in values-based decision-making.
A resident of Concord, Mass., Hudner has spent much of his career in nonprofit fundraising, primarily in education and healthcare. Most recently he was chief development officer at Boston MedFlight, primary provider of critical care medical transport by air and ground in Massachusetts.
“This position is a perfect alignment of my professional experience with an organization whose mission is so close to my heart, my upbringing, and my ethos and beliefs,” he said. “Any environment and culture can benefit from upholding and emulating the ideals that the Medal of Honor and the Recipients represent. The opportunity to help this organization grow and to spread these ideas to new generations is an opportunity for which I’m very grateful.”
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest award for military valor. By highlighting the core values of the Medal of Honor - Courage, Integrity, Commitment, Sacrifice, Citizenship, and Patriotism - the Center for Leadership seeks to inspire transformational change and show how values-based leadership is accessible and relatable to all people across the nation.
“Tom Hudner has lived the values of the Medal of Honor his entire life,” said Center for Leadership CEO Thomas Mundell. “Tom fully grasps that our ultimate goal is to help people to meet their moment. His senior-level experience with nonprofits along with his passion for our mission makes him an essential part of our team at this next stage of our development.”
Hudner’s late father, Navy Capt. Thomas Hudner Jr., was a naval aviator and Recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Korean War. Capt. Hudner received the Medal after he deliberately crash-landed his Corsair plane in the mountains of North Korea in a valiant attempt to save his wingman, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the nation's first Black naval aviator. Brown had been shot down behind enemy lines around the Chosin Reservoir.
The actions on that December day in 1950, and Hudner’s friendship with Brown, were the subject of “Devotion,” released in 2022. Tom Hudner III appeared in a cameo in the film. His father died in 2017 at the age of 93.
“My father is my inspiration and a reminder that all of us – regardless of age, gender, race or vocation – can be inspired to serve selflessly and to put the needs of others above our own,” Tom Hudner III said.
