Sir Adam McClure Thomson (born 1 July 1955) is a former British diplomat who is director of the

European Leadership Network European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom. The ELN's Director is Sir Adam Thomson, former UK Permanent Representative to NATO. Histo ...

, a pan-European think tank based in London. He served as Permanent Representative to NATO between 2014 and 2016.

Education

Adam McClure Thomson was educated at

King's College School, Cambridge King's College School is a coeducational independent preparatory school for children aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road off Grange Road, west of the city centre. It was founded to educate the choristers in the King's ...

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

and the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

He joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO) in 1978 and served in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

as well as at the FCO in London. He was deputy

Permanent Representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, with the rank of

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

, 2002–06; Director South Asia & Afghanistan at the FCO 2006–09 and High Commissioner to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

2010–14 before being appointed Permanent Representative to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in 2014.THOMSON, Adam McClure
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013 While in Pakistan, Thomson caused some controversy when he said that the country's government had failed to deliver on reform and called for a "radical change".

Honours and accolades

Thomson was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in 2009, and knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. He has been a member of the Dean's Alumni Leadership Council at Harvard Kennedy School.

Family

Thomson is the eldest son of Sir John Thomson, also a diplomat. He is the grandson of Sir George Paget Thomson and the great-grandson of Sir J. J. Thomson, both winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics. He is married to Fariba Shirazi, a native of Iran who studied architecture in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and art history in London, and has worked at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London. They have a son and two daughters.

References

External links

*: Mr & Mrs Thomson interviewed by

Moeed Pirzada Moeed Hasan Pirzada ( ur, معید پیرزادہ) is a Pakistani-British political commentator, geostrategic analyst and television news journalist. He hosts a program on 92 News called 'Hard Talk'. He has interviewed many politicians from ma ...

Waqt News ''Nawaiwaqt'' ( ur, , ) is an Urdu daily newspaper in Pakistan which is currently owned by Majid Nizami Trust. It was launched on March 23, 1940, under the leadership of Hameed Nizami (3 Oct 1915-22 Feb 1962). Hameed Nizami was the founder of th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Adam 1955 births Living people People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Harvard Kennedy School alumni Members of HM Diplomatic Service High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Pakistan Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to NATO Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 20th-century British diplomats