Robert F. Thompson
Encyclopedia
Robert F. Thompson is a Democratic
member of the Arkansas Senate
, representing the 11th District since 2007. This district includes several counties in northeast Arkansas
. From 2005 to 2007, he was a State Representative for the 78th district of the Arkansas House of Representatives
, representing the city of Paragould
in Greene County, Arkansas. Thompson currently practices law at the Paragould law firm of Branch, Thompson, Warmath, & Dale P.A.
. He attended Hendrix College
in Conway, Arkansas
, graduating summa cum laude in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts
in history. Following college, Thompson attended the University of St Andrews
in Scotland
on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship
. He graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law
in 1997. In law school, he served as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review and graduated first in his class .
From 1997 to 1998, Thompson served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
http://bluearkansasblog.com/?p=656. Later, as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
, following the death of Judge Arnold in September 2004, Thompson was a sponsor of a House Resolution celebrating the life of Judge Arnold and his contributions to the American legal system.
Thompson has been awarded two honors by the Arkansas Historical Association for his writings about Arkansas history
. In 1993 he won the Lucille Westbrook Award for an essay about debt slavery in Arkansas in the 1930s.http://arkindex.uark.edu/AHQ/t.pdf In 1998, he won the Violet Gingles Award for his short biography of the Arkansas legislator Paul Van Dalsem.http://archives.uca.edu/arkansas_historical_quarterly/17.pdf
In 2008 Thompson was named as one of 24 fellows in the 2008 class of the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership.
Thompson is married to the former Tori Gibson of Osceola, Arkansas. They have two sons and a daughter. He is an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Paragould.
In June 2004 he was one of Arkansas Business's "40 Under 40" up-and-coming young leaders.http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/people_ab_40U.asp?id=517 In December 2004 he was selected as NEA Business Today's 25 Outstanding Young Professionals in northeast Arkansas. In May 2005 Thompson was named one of five "promising legislative newcomers" by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
.
In 2006, Thompson ran for the District 11 state senate seat being vacated by State Senator Tim Wooldridge, who was forced out of office due to term limits. On May 23, Thompson defeated Paragould resident and former state representative Gary Biggs in the Democratic primary for the District 11 seat. As the Democratic nominee in the general election, Thompson defeated Republican Lloyd Clark in a landslide, 72.36% to 27.64%.
Thompson currently serves as the Majority Leader of the Senate.http://www.swtimes.com/news/article_ba0c913e-e8ea-11df-8ba3-001cc4c03286.html
He also serves as vice-chair of the Legislative Council, the committee that oversees legislative operations when the Arkansas legislature is not in session. Thompson is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, and the Senate Efficiency Committee, which administers the internal operations of the Arkansas Senate.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of the Arkansas Senate
Arkansas Senate
The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 76,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have full-time jobs during the rest of the year. The...
, representing the 11th District since 2007. This district includes several counties in northeast Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. From 2005 to 2007, he was a State Representative for the 78th district of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Arkansas House of Representatives
The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the state. Each district has an average population of 26,734...
, representing the city of Paragould
Paragould, Arkansas
-Health & Education:Paragould is home to Arkansas State University Paragould, Arkansas Northeastern College, Black River Technical College, and Crowley's Ridge College. Paragould has two public school districts, the Greene County Technical School District and the Paragould School District, as well...
in Greene County, Arkansas. Thompson currently practices law at the Paragould law firm of Branch, Thompson, Warmath, & Dale P.A.
Biography
Thompson is a native of Paragould. Born at Community Methodist Hospital (now Arkansas Methodist Medical Center) in June 1971, he was raised in Paragould and attended Paragould public schoolsParagould School District
Paragould School District is a public school district located in Paragould, Arkansas. The district includes numerous campuses, including the Paragould Secondary Complex , the Oak Grove Heights campus , Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, Baldwin...
. He attended Hendrix College
Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college located in Conway, Arkansas. The student body averages around 1,400 and currently represents forty-three states and fourteen foreign countries. In US News and World Report's America's Best Colleges, Hendrix is ranked annually in the top tier of...
in Conway, Arkansas
Conway, Arkansas
Conway is the county seat of Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 58,908 at the 2010 census, making Conway the seventh most populous city in Arkansas. It is a principal city of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area which had...
, graduating summa cum laude in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history. Following college, Thompson attended the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship
Rotary Scholarships
Rotary International offers a number of scholarships worldwide for periods of 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years.- Ambassadorial Mission :The purpose of the Ambassadorial Scholarship is to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries...
. He graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law
University of Arkansas School of Law
The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor and Master of Law programs and is home to the federally-funded National Agricultural Law Center and the...
in 1997. In law school, he served as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review and graduated first in his class .
From 1997 to 1998, Thompson served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold
Richard S. Arnold
Richard Sheppard Arnold was a judge of the U.S. District Court and then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Two presidents, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, considered naming Arnold to the United States Supreme Court...
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...
http://bluearkansasblog.com/?p=656. Later, as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Arkansas House of Representatives
The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the state. Each district has an average population of 26,734...
, following the death of Judge Arnold in September 2004, Thompson was a sponsor of a House Resolution celebrating the life of Judge Arnold and his contributions to the American legal system.
Thompson has been awarded two honors by the Arkansas Historical Association for his writings about Arkansas history
History of Arkansas
Arkansas was the 25th state admitted to the United States.-Exploration and early inhabitation:Indigenous peoples inhabited the area now known as Arkansas for thousands of years before the first European explorers....
. In 1993 he won the Lucille Westbrook Award for an essay about debt slavery in Arkansas in the 1930s.http://arkindex.uark.edu/AHQ/t.pdf In 1998, he won the Violet Gingles Award for his short biography of the Arkansas legislator Paul Van Dalsem.http://archives.uca.edu/arkansas_historical_quarterly/17.pdf
In 2008 Thompson was named as one of 24 fellows in the 2008 class of the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership.
Thompson is married to the former Tori Gibson of Osceola, Arkansas. They have two sons and a daughter. He is an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Paragould.
Political career
In November 2004, Thompson was elected to the Arkansas State House of Representatives, District 78, which includes the city of Paragould. As a member of the House, he sat on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, and the Joint Public Retirement Committee. During the 2005 legislative session, Thompson sponsored bills that created a Drug Court for Greene County, Arkansas, strengthened laws on prosecuting sexual offenders, and addressed financial problems of recently consolidated school districts .In June 2004 he was one of Arkansas Business's "40 Under 40" up-and-coming young leaders.http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/people_ab_40U.asp?id=517 In December 2004 he was selected as NEA Business Today's 25 Outstanding Young Professionals in northeast Arkansas. In May 2005 Thompson was named one of five "promising legislative newcomers" by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell...
.
In 2006, Thompson ran for the District 11 state senate seat being vacated by State Senator Tim Wooldridge, who was forced out of office due to term limits. On May 23, Thompson defeated Paragould resident and former state representative Gary Biggs in the Democratic primary for the District 11 seat. As the Democratic nominee in the general election, Thompson defeated Republican Lloyd Clark in a landslide, 72.36% to 27.64%.
Thompson currently serves as the Majority Leader of the Senate.http://www.swtimes.com/news/article_ba0c913e-e8ea-11df-8ba3-001cc4c03286.html
He also serves as vice-chair of the Legislative Council, the committee that oversees legislative operations when the Arkansas legislature is not in session. Thompson is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, and the Senate Efficiency Committee, which administers the internal operations of the Arkansas Senate.
External links
- Arkansas State Legislature - Senator Robert Thompson official government website
- Project Vote Smart - Senator Robert Thompson III (AR) profile
- Follow the Money - Robert F. Thompson
- Hendrix College 2007 Outstanding Young Alumni Awards