James A. Thomson
President and Chief Executive Officer, RAND Corporation
James Thomson has been RAND's president and chief executive officer since August 1989. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution that seeks to improve public policy through research and analysis. With annual revenues of over $200 million and a staff of 1500, RAND's research programs address a broad range of domestic, international, and national security issues.
A member of the RAND staff since 1981, Dr. James Thomson has served the institution in a variety of roles, including that of 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, Dr. Thomson was a member of the National Security Council staff at the White House, 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.
Dr. James Thomson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York; the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London; and the board of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He is a director of AK Steel Corporation, Encysive Pharmaceuticals, and Object Reservoir.
Dr. James Thomson holds a B.S. in physics from the University of New Hampshire (1967) and an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from Purdue University. He was a postdoctoral research associate in physics (1972) and did basic research in experimental nuclear physics (1972-1974) at the University of Wisconsin. He has honorary doctorates from Purdue University, Pepperdine University, and the University of New Hampshire.
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July 2007
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