RAND Retirement

James Thomson, the president and CEO of the nonprofit RAND Corp. for more than two decades, announced today he will step down this fall.

Thomson, 66, was named RAND’s fourth president in 1989 and became the organization's longest-serving chief. Since the start of his tenure, RAND's annual budget has grown from $91 million to more than $250 million and its staff has grown from 1,050 to more than 1,700 people in offices across the world, according to the organization.

In the nonprofit's statement on the change, former Pentagon acquisition executive Paul Kaminski, chairman of the RAND board of trustees, praised Thomson's leadership and legacy. Kaminski is slated to lead a committee to search for Thomson’s successor.