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THOMPSON, Raymond Thomas (1907-1976). MA, Bsc, FCIS, FIOM. Thompson was the son of a grocer and came from a poor background. He was born on 10 November 1907 in Doncaster and died on 4 March 1976 after an unsuccessful heart by-pass operation in Harefield Hospital aged 68 years. He was educated at Ilkeston Secondary School in 1919 and won a major scholarship to Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1925. He distinguished himself with a first class Mathematical Tripos Part 1 and a BSc first class honours at London. On leaving university he studied for the Chartered Secretaries' examinations and started his working career with Owen & Owen Ltd, Liverpool, where he was an assistant secretary. He joined Lyons on 1 June 1931 and in April 1945 was appointed Assistant Secretary. In December 1946 he was appointed Chief Assistant Comptroller and joined the Board of Leo Computers Limited on its formation. Although he had frequent flashes of brilliance and undoubtedly had a quick, agile mind, his management style was thought by many to be arrogant. He did not treat his subordinates with courtesy and was said to be intolerant, but nevertheless he was a very active promoter of the LEO project and his enthusiasm undoubtedly persuaded the Lyons Board to continue to fund the department. He contributed many ideas, supported others and took a very active part in promoting the machine to other parts of industry. Without his involvement it is doubtful whether the project would have succeeded. He was always known as TRT. He was a member of the Institute of Office Management for over 35 years. From March 1946 to February 1949 he was a member of Council, and part of that time acted as Treasurer. He was for many years a member of the Institute's research committee, and was elected a fellow in 1951 to mark his services to the Institute, particularly in connection with the Clerical Job Grading Scheme and preparation of the biennial Clerical Salaries Analysis. He was previously Vice-Chairman of Council for two years and Chairman of the Electronic Data Processing Division. In 1966 he joined Shell-Mex and BP Ltd as advisor on computer applications and techniques.
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