In Memory

Ross Bovee Thompson - Class Of 1949

Ross Bovee Thompson

Ross Bovee Thompson of Lake Oswego, a prominent Portland-area financial counselor and environmentalist who twice had served as interim president of Reed College, died March 29, 1991 of respiratory failure.  He was 59.

Mr. Thompson moved to Lake Oswego in 1965 and joined the staff of Reed College as financial vice president and treasurer of business affairs, a position created for him.  He twice served as acting president of the college during the late 1960s and early 1970s, earning high marks from students and faculty alike for his moral and financial leadership during the campus unrest that characterized the era.

A group of dissident Reed students unhappy with the ''conservative'' direction the college was taking provided Mr. Thompson with some high-profile publicity in a February 1971 stunt.  Calling themselves ''College in Exile,'' the splinter group leased a billboard on SE McLoughlin Boulevard near the Ross Island Bridge and put up a gigantic portrait of Mr. Thompson that proclaimed, ''Would you buy a used college from this man?''

Thompson said he took a lot of good-natured ribbing over the incident and got ''a good laugh from it.''

During the early 1970s, Mr. Thompson turned to the private sector. He began a financial and investment counseling practice that specialized in organizing new businesses, consolidating and selling existing businesses and developing management strategies for family-owned enterprises.  He held board positions on many of the companies he was involved with, gaining a reputation for his belief that an outside director's greatest function is to challenge existing management policies. He also was picked to advise or administer a number of large private investment portfolios.

Mr. Thompson had served as a director for a number of well-known Oregon corporations, including the Oregon Bank (now Security Pacific Bank), Omark Industries, Orbanco, Pacific Stationery and Northwest Textbook Depository. He remained active as a financial consultant until his death.

In 1977, Mr. Thompson was appointed to the Oregon Educational Coordinating Commission by then-Govenor Bob Straub. He served on the commission for eight years, including two terms as chairman.  He had been a campaign chairman for Straub and former Govenor Vic Atiyeh and was a past president of the First Addition Neighborhood Association in Lake Oswego.

He was knowledgeable about the geology and history of Oregon's high desert country and the Columbia Gorge, and was a protector of Oregon wilderness areas. At one time, he owned one of the state's largest sheep ranches in Joseph.  He was a benefactor of conservancy organizations and aided in negotiations that led to the purchase or protection of wilderness areas. He anonymously purchased many large tracts, particularly in the Columbia River Gorge and northeastern Oregon, and had them placed them in trust.

He was born September 12, 1931, in San Francisco, and grew up in San Marino.  He earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University in 1953 and a master's degree in business administration from the Stanford Business School two years later. He also was a certified public accountant.

Mr. Thompson served as an officer in the supply corps for the U.S. Navy from 1955 until 1958. After returning to California, he began his career with Litton Industries, serving in a number of executive positions. He was named treasurer of the company while still in his 20s.

Survivors include his sons, Thomas of Canby, Paul of Eugene and Greg of West Linn; sister, Caroline Mills (SPHS '51) of Phoenix, Arizona; brother, William (SPHS '47) of Madison, Wisconsin; and five grandchildren.

The Oregonian, April 4, 1991