Mozelle Willmont Thompson is an American attorney who served as a member of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

(FTC) from 1997 to 2004. Thompson was the second

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve as a member of the FTC.

Education

Originally from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Thompson attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

for both his undergraduate and legal education. Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree from Columbia College in 1976 and received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

(J.D.) degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1981. After law school, he attended the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (''abbrev.'' SPIA; formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of c ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where he received his M.P.A.

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Thompson served as a law clerk to judge William M. Hoeveler of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida. Appeals ...

. Thompson later practiced law in the private sector at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he worked from 1982 to 1990. Thompson has also served in academia, having previously been an adjunct associate professor at

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

. Thompson later held posts in the public sector, serving as acting executive director, senior vice president and

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

of the

New York State Housing Finance Agency The New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) is a New York State public-benefit corporation created in 1960 to increase the supply of rental housing for low-income people by issuing bonds and providing low-interest mortgage loans to regulated ...

and the

State of New York Mortgage Agency State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. Thompson joined the federal government in 1993, where he joined the Department of the Treasury in 1993 a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Policy. In this capacity, Thompson oversaw the operations of the

Federal Financing Bank The Federal Financing Bank (FFB) is a United States government corporation created by Congress in 1973 under the general supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury.Federal Financing Bank Act of 1973 (). The FFB was established to centralize ...

and the Office of Corporate Finance, and helped refinance the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

(USPS) as well as

Oglethorpe Power Oglethorpe Power Corporation is an American medium-sized electric utility in Georgia, United States. Formed in 1974, Oglethorpe is a not-for-profit cooperative owned by the 38 electric membership corporations that it serves. The utility's headqua ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

In 1997, Thompson was one of three candidates under consideration to replace

Steven Wallman Steven Wallman is the former commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Wallman held this position from 1994 to 1997. He has also founded several companies, including Folio Financial, Inc. and Proxy Governance, Inc. Biogr ...

on the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC). Instead, Thompson was appointed that year President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

to serve on the

for a term that expired on September 25, 2003. He replaced the vacant seat held by Christine A. Varney and was in office until August 2004, until he was succeeded by

Jon Leibowitz Jonathan David Leibowitz (born June 17, 1958) is an American attorney who served under President Barack Obama as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2009 to 2013. Leibowitz was appointed to the commission in 2004, and resigned in 20 ...

. During his tenure at the

, he also served as a delegate to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and chaired its Committee on Consumer Policy. In 2004, Thompson ultimately agreed to support the then-proposed

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

merger deal, though he stated he had reservations about the potential impact of the deal on the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. As of 2021, Thompson is one of just three African-Americans to have served on the FTC: The other two were

A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Jr. (February 25, 1928 – December 14, 1998) was an American civil rights advocate, historian, presidential adviser, and federal court judge. From 1990 to 1991, he served as chief judge of the United States Court of ...

(served from 1962-1964) and Pamela Jones Harbour (served from 2003-2009).

Post-FTC career

In 2008, Thompson served as a team leader in the

presidential transition of Barack Obama Barack Obama's presidential transition began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the president-elect. Obama was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008. The results were cer ...

team in charge of Economics and International Trade, in which he led the review of the U.S.

. After retiring from public service, he started his eponymous consulting company and advises clients such as

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. He served on the advisory board of

for ten years and

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

's advisory board for three years.

Awards

In 2014, he received the

John Jay Award The John Jay Award is presented annually by Columbia College of Columbia University to its alumni for distinguished professional achievement. It is named for Founding Father of the United States John Jay, Columbia College Class of 1764. The first ...

for outstanding professional achievement from Columbia College, along with Nobel Prize winner

Robert Lefkowitz Robert Joseph Lefkowitz (born April 15, 1943) is an American physician (internist and cardiologist) and biochemist. He is best known for his discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family of G protein-coupled receptors, for w ...

and hedge fund manager, Olympic fencer

James Melcher James Laurence Melcher (November 5, 1939 – April 17, 2023) was an American hedge fund manager and Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Early and personal life Me ...

. In 2016, he received

alumni association's highest honor, the Alumni Medal.

References