About the Founder
Dr. Thurman Fleet
(1895-1983)

Born in Blacksburg, Virginia, George Thurman Fleet was founder of the Concept-Therapy Institute in San Antonio, Texas. He had a distinguished career that included first the military, health care and then holistic health education. In each area he demonstrated loyalty, intelligence, dedication and an abiding desire to understand life and assist humanity in its upward progression. While serving in the army in W.W.I under command of General John J. Pershing, Sgt. Fleet went into battle with the 26th Infantry in France. He received a battlefield promotion to Captain and was awarded this country�s second highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross. He also earned the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and the French Legion of Honor. For the remainder of his life, Captain Fleet was an active member of the Legion of Valor whose membership is reserved for those decorated for gallantry with the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross or the Navy Cross.

After surviving horrific wartime experiences and a prolonged recovery from severe injuries, he was compelled to learn about health and healing, so he entered the chiropractic field.

Nineteen thirty-one was a pivotal year. Not only did Dr. Fleet graduate from the Texas Chiropractic College, but he immediately began to apply his knowledge to scores of patients and soon had a successful practice in San Antonio, Texas.

That December, a life-changing experience inspired Dr. Fleet to uncover the fundamental principles of the human personality and their relationship to the natural laws of life. He researched over 30,000 published sources and with this massive effort developed a comprehensive, correlated approach to understand life and healing, a philosophy he named Concept-Therapy � "working/healing with ideas." One singular document, Rays of the Dawn, emerged initially as a series of pamphlets to help his patients understand their role in creating health. In 1948, Dr. Fleet copyrighted and published the material in book form.

The idea of founding the Concept-Therapy Institute as a non-profit educational organization also took root in 1931. By 1944, Dr. Fleet was teaching the Concept-Therapy philosophy to members of the various healing professions. In the early 1950s, classes were opened to laypersons, and the organization grew into a wholistic health education institution.

Dr. Fleet served as President of the Concept-Therapy Institute until 1960, when he became advisor to the Board of Control, a position he held until his death in 1983. He was buried with Full Military Honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.