John Millar Thomson

Prof John Millar Thomson PIC FRS FRSE LLD (7 March 1849 – 22 March 1933) was a British chemist who held various leading positions with British chemical societies and was the vice-principal of King's College London. He was President of the Institute of Chemistry from 1900 to 1903.

Biography Thomson was born in the precincts of the old college of Glasgow, the only child of Allen Thomson, professor of anatomy and his wife, Ninian Jane Hill. His family had been connected with the University of Glasgow since 1761, when his great-grandfather, John Millar, was a professor of law. Other members of the family held chairs in mathematics, philosophy, medicine and anatomy, pathology, and military surgery at the University of Glasgow or other Scottish universities. Because of the family connections, from early boyhood, Thomson was in contact with notable people in academic circles. He regularly accompanied his father on various administrative duties and foreign trips, providing technical assistance and taking notes. This started an interest in architectural matters, which he retained all his life, eventually becoming an accomplished civil architect.

Although he was much occupied with his own teaching and experimental work, Thomson was also a dedicated amateur photographer and actor with the Dramatic Society of King's College. He taught the principles and practice of photography to the engineering students of the college and carried out experimental studies of photographic processes.