Thomson, James Claude, 1889-

James Claude Thomson was born in 1889 in New York. He was professor of chemistry at the University of Nanking, China from 1917-1949 and later taught at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, and Yonsei Medical College in Seoul, Korea.His field of specialty was medical nutrition and he did surveys for the World Health Organization in Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey during the 1950s. James Claude Thomson was a statesman, educator, and journalist.

From the description of James Claude Thomson papers, 1918-1966 (inclusive). (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 702165047

• 1889: Born in New York. Graduated from Rutgers University and New Brunswick Theological Seminary; received a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and an MPH from Johns Hopkins
• 1917 - 1949 : Appointed to China by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Served as a professor of chemistry, department chairman, then10 years as Dean of the University of Nanking
• 1933: Published "A study of Chinese wood oils; with special reference to the isolation and the characterization of isomeric eleostearic acids"
• 1950 - 1951 : Held a Fulbright Professorship at the University of Tehran Medical College
• 1952: Undertook nutritional survey of Iran
• 1953 - 1955 : Director of Nutrition Research at the International Christian University in Tokyo
• 1955 - 1957 : Served as a nutrition consultant for the World Health Organization in Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan
• 1957 - 1958 : Professor of Nutrition at Yonsei University Medical College, Seoul, Korea
• 1974: Died in Pennsylvania

• 1931: Born in Princeton, NJ, son of James C. and Margaret Thomson, Congregational missionaries to China who were in the U.S. temporarily. The family returned to Nanjing, where they were based until 1949. His siblings were Anne (Nancy), Sydney, and John.
• 1953: B.A. from Yale University
• 1955: B.A. from University of Cambridge, where he was Yale-Clare Fellow
• 1959: M.A. from University of Cambridge
• 1961: Ph.D. in history from Harvard University
• 1960 - 1966 : Beginning work as aide to Chester Bowles in 1959, JCT, Jr. followed Bowles into the Kennedy administration, serving first as special assistant to the undersecretary of state (1961), then as special assistant to the president's special representative and advisor on African, Asian, and Latin American affairs (1961–63). Under the Johnson administration, Thomson served as special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Far Eastern affairs (1963–64), and from 1964 to 1966 he was the China specialist on the staff of the National Security Council. In 1966 he resigned in protest over the Vietnam War and returned to Harvard.
• 1966 - 1971 : Taught at Harvard, published While China Faced West (Harvard University Press, 1969), worked with John K. Fairbank in the field of American-East Asian relations, wrote articles for Atlantic Monthly, etc.
• 1972 - 1984 : Head of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
• 1981: Published Sentimental imperialists : the American experience in East Asia / James C. Thomson, Jr., Peter W. Stanley, John Curtis Perry ; foreword by John King Fairbank.
• 1984 - 1997 : Professor of journalism, history, and international relations at Boston University
• 2002: Died

From the guide to the James Claude Thomson and James C. Thomson, Jr. Papers, 1917-2002, (Yale University Divinity School Library)