James JA. Thomson is an American businessman who was the RAND Corporation's president and chief executive officer from August 1989 through October 2011 and a member of the RAND staff since 1981.

Education

Thomson holds a B.S. in physics from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

(1967) and an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

. He was a postdoctoral research associate in physics (1972) and did basic research in experimental nuclear physics (1972–1974) at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. He has honorary doctorates from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

, and the

Career

Thomson previously served as director of RAND's research programs in national security, foreign policy, defense policy, and arms control; vice president in charge of the Project AIR FORCE division; and executive vice president. From 1977 to January 1981, Thomson was a member of the National Security Council staff at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, where he was primarily responsible for defense and arms control matters related to Europe. He was on the staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1974-1977.

Affiliations

homson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York; the

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...

, London; and the board of the

Los Angeles World Affairs Council The Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall (LAWACTH), the Los Angeles office within the national network of World Affairs Councils of America The World Affairs Councils of America is a network of 93 autonomous and nonpartisan councils acr ...

. He is a director of

AK Steel Corporation AK and A.K. (but not Ak) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''A.K.'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Chris Marker * AK (radio program), a weekly program produced by Alaska Public Radio Network from 2003 to 2008, later a segment on ''Alaska ...

, Encysive Pharmaceuticals, and

Object Reservoir Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ...

Articles

Unclassified Work at RAND

External links

Doctor of Science honorary degree recipientJames Thomson: Mission -- Possible
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, James Year of birth missing (living people) Living people RAND Corporation people University of New Hampshire alumni Purdue University alumni Ford administration personnel Carter administration personnel