Dr. John S. Thompson says that giving to the IEEE Foundation is valuable way to “bring some balance to the books.” John first joined IEEE as a student, where he was attending university with support of scholarship donors. For him, it was an easy choice to support the EPICS in IEEE program as it seems like the best way to support today’s students in engineering fields, noting he is “amazed at the level of projects and commitment of these students.”

John has participated in many IEEE conferences and events—and he continues to find the easy access that IEEE provides to Life Members on developments in his fields of interest to be stimulating. John received the 2017 IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits and repurposed his honorarium to support the IEEE Foundation. “The support of former colleagues for my nomination was a most welcome gift. I felt I was given a unique opportunity to help both IEEE, and other worthy enterprises, and I should not let this chance go by,” he said.

John, who also supports the IEEE Life Members Fund, encourages others to promote a greater understanding of the crucial need for engineering and science today. John thinks that, “there is too great a danger to our society from ignorance of science and technology to not make an effort at countering this trend.” Reflecting back, John said, “the field of engineering has been good to me and I welcome the chance to help others join it.”