Former NT education pioneer passes 

 
 

Emeritus Professor Jim Thomson, AM, who helped develop the Northern Territory’s only university into a leading research and academic institution, has died in Perth aged 88.

Professor Thomson was Warden of the University College of the Northern Territory and first Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Northern Territory University (NTU).

He and wife Diana (deceased) lived in Darwin from Jim's appointment as Warden in 1986 to his retirement as Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 1990, when they retired to Tasmania. During his tenure at NTU, he played a huge part in developing the University from a disparate body facing financial hardship to a single institution with a unique identity and ethos.

Long-time friend, Emeritus Professor David Carment said Jim would be remembered by all for his forceful, dynamic and very effective leadership style.

“The Territory was most fortunate to have outstanding educational leaders such as Jim Thomson who was dedicated to the creation of a first class institution,” Professor Carment said.

“He recognised the need for distinctive, even unique, solutions to our particular problems and never slavishly followed the models that had been developed in the older universities.”

Among his many posts in academia, Professor Thomson was also the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland.

He was a devoted husband of Diana, much loved father and father-in-law of Susan, Rosamund and Peter, and John, Beth and Robert.