James JA. Thomson is an American businessman who was the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

'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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

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

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. 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 The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. He has honorary doctorates from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

, 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 A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

staff at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, 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 The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out au ...

, 1974-1977.

Affiliations

Thomson is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, New York; the

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four co ...

, 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, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization which arranges speaker events, debates, seminars, and ...

. He is a director of AK Steel Corporation, Encysive Pharmaceuticals, and Object Reservoir.

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