Thomas Rossing received his PhD in physics in 1954 at Iowa State University, and began his professional career with the UNIVAC division of Sperry Rand, where he did research on magnetic materials and applications to computer memories. He joined the Physics Department at St. Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota in 1957, where he discovered his love for teaching that continued throughout his life. He continued research on magnetic resonance and spin-wave resonance, and served for six years as chairman of the Physics Department.

In 1971 he was appointed professor and chair of the Physics Department at Northern Illinois University, where he served for over 30 years. He continued research in magnetism, some of it in collaboration with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, but he became more and more interested in musical acoustics. He founded an Acoustics Laboratory at the University, which became world famous and attracted both students and visiting scientists from all over the world.

He made research visits and established collaborations with many universities, including Oxford University (UK), MIT, University of New England (Australia), Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm), Institute for Perception Research (The Netherlands), Physikalische-Technische Bundesanstalt and Fraunhofer Institut (Germany), Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (France), University of California (San Diego), and Argonne National Laboratory. In 2004 he became a Visiting Professor at in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, where he taught until the age of 90.

He is the author of over 400 scientific publications, and he holds 9 US and 11 foreign patents. Examples of the influence of his work include his collaboration with Malmark Inc from which his insight into characteristics of bending wave propagation in bell structures eventually led to the development of large handbells cast in aluminum. His insights about vibrational modes contributed to the development by PanArt of a new instrument, the “Hang”, a hand-played steel instrument, which has gained popularity all over the world.

In recognition of his contributions to physics teaching, the American Association of Physics Teachers awarded him its Robert Millikan Medal, and he served as president of AAPT during 1991. He received the Gold Medal from the Acoustical Society of America, “for contributions to musical acoustics, leadership in science education, and service to the Society.” He is a Fellow of APS (the American Physical Society), AAAS (the American Association of Advancement of Science), IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers), and ASA (the Acoustical Society of America).