James Thompson, the retired Noah Harding Professor of Statistics at Rice University, died Dec. 4, 2017, of cancer. He was 79.
Thompson received the Founder’s Medal as first in his class when he graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1960. In 1965, he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton. He accepted a position teaching mathematics and statistics at Vanderbilt. He then taught at Indiana University, and in 1970 he came to Rice.
At Rice, Thompson founded the department of statistics in 1987. In 2016, he retired from Rice as the Harding professor and adjunct professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas School of Public Health.
Thompson wrote 14 scholarly books on statistical subjects. He was a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the International Statistical Institute, and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. He received the Army’s Wilks Award for his work on defense-related data analysis and modeling. He made pioneering contributions to biomathematics, quality control, and computational finance. He also did pioneering research on AIDS. He was honored by a Festschrift to commemorate his retirement.
Thompson is survived by his wife, Ewa. He was predeceased by a son.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.