John Cyril Thorns was born in April 1926. He was a graduate of El Dorado High School in 1944. His family moved to Hays that year, and Thorns enrolled at Fort Hays State University. He served in the U.S. Navy and then returned in 1946 to complete his degree. He also studied for one year at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. Thorns completed an MA in Art History at Indiana University in 1952 and a MFA in Architectural Design at the University of Iowa in 1953. He returned to FHSU in 1954 to teach and retired in 1990. At FHSU, he taught a variety of classes, including developing the Interior Design program and serving as Director of Exhibitions. The Moss-Thorns art gallery at FHSU is named in his honor.
Before his passing in July 2014, John served as the curator of the Hadley Art Collection. The collection contains over 20 of his pieces.
