Long Thompson, Jill, 1952-

<p>Jill Lynette Long Thompson (born July 15, 1952) is an American politician, educator, and author. A former Congresswoman from Indiana, she is the author of The Character of American Democracy, published by Indiana University Press in September 2020. From 2015 to 2020 she taught ethics as a Visiting Clinical Associate Professor at the Kelley School of Business and the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington and during the 2020-2021 academic year she served as a visiting scholar with the Ostrom Workshop, also at Indiana University. Until 2015 she was board chair and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration, a position to which President Barack Obama appointed her. The first person in her family to graduate from college, she earned a B.S. in business administration at Valparaiso University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in business at Indiana University. She is a member of the Democratic Party.</p>

<p>Long Thompson's political career began when she was elected to the Valparaiso city council in 1983. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1989, representing a heavily Republican district for three terms. In 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated her to serve as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development.</p>

<p>Born in Warsaw, Indiana, Jill Lynette Long was raised on a family farm outside Larwill, Whitley County, Indiana. She graduated from Columbia City Joint High School in Columbia City. She earned an M.B.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1984) from Indiana University, and a B.S. (1974) in business from Valparaiso University. She lives with her husband Don Thompson, a retired airline pilot, on a farm near Argos, Indiana in Marshall County.</p>

<p>Jill L. Long, an academic by training, rose through the ranks of Indiana politics to become an influential advocate for the state’s agricultural interests. Long wrested away from Republicans a northeastern Indiana district considered a safe GOP seat. She went on to serve in the United States House of Representatives for three terms, campaigning as a no-tax, conservative Democrat. In Congress, Long focused on farm issues and, as chair of the Congressional Rural Caucus, doubled the group’s membership.</p>

<p>Jill Lynette Long was born on July 15, 1952, in Warsaw, Indiana. Raised on a family grain and dairy farm, Long’s rural upbringing influenced her future political career. “Growing up on a farm, I really learned, at an early age, the importance of this democratic community involvement,” Long noted. She graduated from Columbia City Joint High School in Columbia City, Indiana, and became the first person in her family to graduate from college, receiving a BS at Valparaiso University in 1974. Long pursued her academic studies at Indiana University; she earned an MBA in 1978 and a PhD in business in 1984. From 1981 to 1988, Long taught business administration as an assistant professor at Valparaiso University. She also served as a lecturer at Indiana University at Bloomington and an adjunct at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne from 1987 to 1989.</p>

<p>Long’s first public service experience was as a member of the city council of Valparaiso from 1984 to 1986. “Up until that time, I had no interest in running for public office,” Long explained. “But I would listen to politicians talk about the economy, and I realized that I knew more about economics than most of the people who were trying to lead us out of this difficult economic time and decided that maybe I could have a role to play.” She was dubbed “Jill Longshot” when she ran as a Democrat against GOP incumbent James Danforth (Dan) Quayle in the 1986 race for a seat in the U.S. Senate. “I sort of like the nickname,” Long admitted. “The more people hear it, the more they’ll remember me.” That contention proved prophetic later in her career, though at the time Quayle beat her handily with 61 percent of the vote. In 1988 she ran in a Fort Wayne-centered U.S. House district in northeast Indiana against incumbent Daniel Ray Coats, a Quayle protégé. Coats turned back Long’s bid, capturing 62 percent of the vote.</p>