Sir Adam McClure Thomson (born 1 July 1955) is a former British diplomat who was director of the
European Leadership Network, a pan-European think tank based in London. He served as
Permanent Representative to NATO between 2014 and 2016.
Education
Adam McClure Thomson was educated at
King's College School, Cambridge,
Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
,
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
and the
John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.
Career
He joined the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom.
The office was created on 2 ...
(FCO) in 1978 and served in Moscow, Brussels, Washington, D.C. and New Delhi as well as at the FCO in London. He was deputy
Permanent Representative to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
in New York, with the rank of
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
, 2002–06; Director South Asia & Afghanistan at the FCO 2006–09 and
High Commissioner to Pakistan 2010–14 before being appointed Permanent Representative to
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
in 2014.
[THOMSON, Adam McClure](_blank)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013
While in Pakistan, Thomson caused some controversy when he said that the country's government had failed to deliver on reform and called for a "radical change".
Honours and accolades
Thomson was appointed a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...
in 2009, and knighted as a
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
in the
2014 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
. He has been a member of the Dean's Alumni Leadership Council at Harvard Kennedy School.
Family
Thomson is the eldest son of
Sir John Thomson, also a diplomat. He is the grandson of
Sir George Paget Thomson and the great-grandson of
Sir J. J. Thomson, both winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics. He is married to Fariba Shirazi, a native of Iran who studied architecture in Tehran and art history in London, and has worked at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
in New York and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
in London.
They have a son and two daughters.
References
External links
*: Mr & Mrs Thomson interviewed by Moeed Pirzada on
Waqt News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Adam
1955 births
Living people
People educated at Westminster School, London
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Members of HM Diplomatic Service
High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Pakistan
Permanent representatives of the United Kingdom to NATO
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
20th-century British diplomats