Ruth Thompson (4 July 1953 – 9 July 2016) was a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who was director of finance (2000–03) and then of Higher Education (2003–06) at the Department of Education and Skills.

Early life and education

Ruth Thompson was born on 4 July 1953, the daughter of the academic historian Arthur Frederick "Pat" Thompson (1920–2009) and his wife Mary, ''née'' Barritt, a lecturer in botany."Ruth Thompson", ''The Times'' (London), 24 October 2016, p. 35."Thompson, Dr Ruth"
''Who's Who 2016'' (online edition), Oxford University Press, 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017. She graduated from

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, with a bachelor of arts (BA) degree in modern history, before completing a doctorate (DPhil) at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

, in 1978. While at Oxford, she exhibited a passion for politics and joined the university's Labour Club.

Career

After completing her education, Thompson joined the civil service, and between 1978 and 1990 she worked successively for the Departments of Industry, Trade and Prices and Consumer Protection, where, from 1982 to 1984, she was Private Secretary to the

Parliamentary Under-Secretary Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

and then the Secretaries of State. She became Assistant Secretary at the Department in 1990 and then moved over to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

two years later, before joining the

Department of Social Security The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...

for a year between 1999 and 2000. That was followed by a move to the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

, where she was Director of Finance (2000–03), and then of the Higher Education Strategy and Implementation Group (2003–06). Thompson then left the civil service, but took on a number of other positions and directorships; from 2009, she was a member (and from 2015 a trustee) of the Advisory Board of the

Higher Education Policy Institute Higher may refer to: Music * The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band Albums * ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007 * ''Higher'' (Ezio album) or the title song, 2000 * ''Higher'' (Harem Scarem album) or the title song ...

; she was a governor of

Birkbeck, University of London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

(from 2009, and later Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors) and of Staffordshire University (from 2010, and chair of its Education Committee),"In memory of Dr Ruth Thompson (1953–2016)"
''Staffordshire University''. Retrieved 19 April 2017. and also a member of the Audit Commission (2013–15), and in 2014 co-chaired the Higher Education Commission's inquiry into financing higher education; she emphasised the positives that free higher education could provide for British research. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wrote that Thompson was a "distinguished" civil servant, who "was renowned for being direct and fair."

Personal life, family and interests

Thompson's appointment as a director of Fusion Lifestyle in 2011 reflected her love for swimming (she frequented Brockwell Park Lido); she also sat on the board of Moat Homes Limited and

London TravelWatch London TravelWatch is a statutory British consumer organisation that campaigns for improvements to transport in London. It deals with all complaints from passengers using any Transport for London modes including some cycling and pedestrian issu ...

after leaving the civil service. She was a keen traveller, visiting over 40 countries and learning Spanish while studying for her doctoral thesis in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. In 2004 she married the judge Sir David Michael Bean, whom she met while on a walking trip. They had no children, although she was step-mother to her husband's two sons. She died from cancer on 9 July 2016."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Ruth 1953 births 2016 deaths British civil servants Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford