American Music Therapy Association

AMTA pays tribute to Tom Ott by continuing his legacy with the opening of the application period for the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award

It is with deep sadness that AMTA mourns the death of Tom Ott with his passing on March 19, 2026. Tom and Lucy Ott have been long time supporters of music therapy. The Ott’s generosity included many dimensions of music therapy, including the John Cali School of Music at Montclair, music therapy clinical training and the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award with AMTA. Many music therapists that have met or worked with Tom and Lucy have posted meaningful tributes to Tom. See this Facebook post from the David Ott Lab. 

The Ott’s and AMTA

In 1998, the inaugural conference of the newly formed American Music Therapy Association was held in Cleveland, Ohio. At that conference the creation of the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award was announced, the first research award of AMTA. It was established with a generous donation from David’s Fund (New Jersey) and Tom and Lucy Ott. The first grant was awarded in 1999 for $10,000. This year marks the 26th year of the research award and AMTA’s relationship with the Otts. Over the past 26 years, the Otts, through David’s Fund, have funded nearly $300,000 in research to AMTA and award recipients. In honor of Tom Ott and his son David, we thought it appropriate to revisit the program from 1998 and remind us who the namesake of the award was and of David’s Fund. 

Excerpt from the 1998 Inaugural Conference of the American Music Therapy Association Nov. 19-22, Cleveland, OH

Rev. Arthur Flagler Fultz, RMT number four, participated in the 1950 organizational meeting in New York City that resulted in the founding of the first national music therapy association in the United States. He served as the fifth president of the Association, serving successive one-year terms beginning in 1954, and also served as the first chair of the Music Therapy Research Committee, the only standing committee identified in the Association's original by-laws. This Research Award is named in his honor in recognition of his pioneering efforts and life-long commitment to Music Therapy.

Tom and Lucy Ott established David's Fund in 1996 in memory of their son David to help others discover and know the joy and therapeutic benefits of music that David experienced. David Ott was a young, bright journalism major, adventurous and idealistic, who contracted encephalitis at age 20. The resulting brain injury left David with severe physical disabilities, and he passed away in 1994.

Music was an important part of David's life, both before and after his illnesses. All kinds of music interested him, from Beethoven, Berlioz and Ives, to B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, and Mahalia Jackson. In the later years of his life, music was a means of self-expression, and music kept David company. He enthusiastically shared his music with everyone and expected people to be equally enthusiastic in return.

David's Fund has established a scholarship fund at Montclair State University for both undergraduate and graduate students in Music Therapy. On a national level, the Fund has made an annual pledge of $10,000 to the American Music Therapy Association for the development of an ongoing program to support clinical research in music therapy - The Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award. In turn, AMTA has agreed to pay the costs of administering the research award.

AMTA is now accepting submissions for the

2026 Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award.

Tom and Lucy Ott have created an amazing legacy in the music therapy community. What better way to honor Tom than to announce the opening of the Application period for the 2026 Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award. Applications are being accepted until May 31, 2026. 

For Guidelines and Criteria visit: https://www.musictherapy.org/research/fultz/

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