Professor Samuel James (Sam) Thomson (27 September 1922 – 4 March 2006) was a Scottish chemist and author, and was Reader, Titular Professor and Director of Chemical Laboratories at the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

.

Born in Hamilton

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

Hamilton is a town in South Lanarkshire, in the west-central Lowlands of Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It is the fifth-biggest town in Scotland after Paisley, East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld...

, South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....

, Thomson was educated at Hamilton Academy

Hamilton Academy

Hamilton Academy was a school situated in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.Described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, Hamilton Academy featured in the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association Magazine article series on...

. He entered the University of Glasgow in 1940, interrupting his studies to join the army in 1943. Commissioned into the Royal Signals Thomson served as a Lieutenant in India and Malaya and, returning to Glasgow in 1946, graduated BSc

BSC

BSC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:Science and technology* Bachelor of Science , an undergraduate degree* Base Station Controller, part of a mobile phone network; see: Base Station subsystem...

 in 1947 and PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in 1951, and later, DSc

DSC

-in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...

 in 1966.

After six years as Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Durham (1951–57), Thomson returned to the University of Glasgow as Lecturer in Chemistry, thereafter promoted to Senior Lecturer, in 1961; Reader, in 1968; and, in 1973, Titular Professor. In 1970 Thomson had also been appointed Assistant Director of the Chemical Laboratories, leading in 1979 to his appointment as Director and Head of Department, a post he held until he retired in September 1987. Thomson went on to serve on the British Railways Board

British Railways Board

The British Railways Board was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that existed from 1962 to 2001. From its foundation until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand names British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail...

, Scottish Committee, from 1989-94; as a consultant to British Railways Railfreight Distribution

Railfreight Distribution

Railfreight Distribution was a subsector of British Rail created by the division in 1987 of British Rail's previous Railfreight sector. It was responsible for non-trainload freight operations, as well as Freightliner and Intermodal services. In its early years the division was occasionally...

 from 1994-96; and consultant to the English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS)

DB Schenker Rail (UK)

DB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...

 from 1997-98; and to Freightliner, Scotland, in 1999, being also a Director, from 2001-02.

Elected Associate of the Royal Institute of Chemistry

Royal Institute of Chemistry

The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation.Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain, its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim was to ensure that consulting and analytical chemists were properly...

 in 1949, and Fellow in 1955, Thomson was also a member of the Chemical Society

Chemical Society

The Chemical Society was formed in 1841 as a result of increased interest in scientific matters....

, and the Faraday Society

Faraday Society

The Faraday Society was a British society for the study of physical chemistry, founded in 1903 and named in honour of Michael Faraday. It merged with several similar organisations in 1980 to form the Royal Society of Chemistry...

. From 1959 he was also a University Scientific Training Officer for the Scottish Home Department on aspects of nuclear warfare. Professor Thomson was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...

on the 4 March 1974. Author of numerous articles and papers, Thomson co-wrote, with Professor Geoffrey Webb, the book Heterogeneous Catalysis (1967).