John Walter Thomson

Biography When he was eight years old, Thomson moved with his family to the U.S.A. In 1935 he graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree, majoring in botany and zoology. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW Madison) he graduated in botany with a master's degree in 1937 and a Ph.D. in 1939. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked as a naturalist at Manhattan's American Museum of Natural History and taught at Brooklyn College until 1942. During WW II, he taught topics in military aviation and meteorology from 1942 to 1944 for the U.S. Army Air Corps at Superior State Teachers College (now named the University of Wisconsin–Superior). In 1944 he became a faculty member of the department of botany at University of Wisconsin–Madison, retiring there in 1984 as professor emeritus. In retirement, he continued to work almost daily at the Madison campus until he was about 88 years old. which is located on Lake Itasca. He collected lichens not only in the Arctic and in Wisconsin, but also in a number of other U.S. states, including "California, Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington". Thomson issued two exsiccatae, namely Lichenes Wisconsinenses exsiccati (1946–1960) and Lichenes Arctici (1960–1966).

In 1937 in Madison, Wisconsin, Thomson married the botanist and conservationist Olive Sherman. As a memorial to Douglas their dead son, John and Olive Thomson gave money to The Nature Conservancy for land acquisition, leading to the establishment of the Thomson Memorial Prairie, which consists of of remnant dry prairie.

Awards and honors 1958–1959 — President of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society 1985 — Henry Allan Gleason Award of the New York Botanical Garden 1985 — Gulf Oil Conservation Award jointly given to John and Olive Thomson for their environmental activity 1992 — Acharius Medal of the International Association for Lichenology 1998 — Festschrift held in honor of Thomson's 85th birthday with published volume Lichenographia Thomsoniana (1998) 2010 — John Thomson Research Award established by the Botanical Club of Wisconsin

Selected publications Articles

Books and monographs