Dr Ray Thomson passed away

The MacDiarmid Institute is deeply saddened to hear that the former Chair of the MacDiarmid Board, Dr Ray Thomson, passed away suddenly last week.

Many of us knew Ray personally, as he worked closely with many MacDiarmid researchers to ensure the best outcomes for new Intellectual Property, and guided many through the unfamiliar TTO and investor worlds.

In his two years as Board Chair, Ray truly cemented the MacDiarmid Institute as the nexus intersecting hi-tech materials science and hi-tech industry. Under his leadership, commercialisation of MacDiarmid science became business as usual. Ray had extensive connections at the highest levels within the New Zealand business scene and was able to put materials science in the viewfinder of many of senior businesspeople and industries.

Ray in 2010 won the inaugural William H. Payne Active Angel Award and was Chairman of the NZ Angel Association in 2012 and 2013. He graduated with a PhD in physics from Otago University, and spent most of the last 40 years working as a financial analyst and company director. Dr Thomson was an accredited fellow of the Institute Of Directors. He has served on many Boards and chaired the MBIE ‘Smart Ideas’ panels in 2013 and 2014.

Ray will be deeply missed by those of us at the MacDiarmid Institute who knew him, and by his wide circle of friends.

Our deepest sympathies go to his wife, Lorraine and his children.

Paul Atkins

Chair
MacDiarmid Board