Jim Thomson

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Biographical Information

"Jim Thomson leads the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. With annual revenues of more than 200 million dollars and a staff of approximately 1,600 people from more than 50 countries, RAND's research programs address a range of domestic, international, and national security issues.

"Thomson describes his career in four phases. In the first, he was an experimental nuclear physicist and published numerous scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. In the second phase, in 1974, he was a government official dealing with defense and arms control matters. He served in both the U.S. Department of Defense and at the White House. In the third phase, he focused on policy research covering a range of strategic issues. In the fourth phase, while continuing his research, Thomson moved into research leadership positions at RAND. He became RAND's fourth president in 1989.

"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 and Object Reservoir."

• Ex Officio Advisor, Center for Middle East Public Policy
• Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces: International Advisory Board