His professional career started at General Motors, where he worked in the area of computer-aided graphics and design soon after graduate school in early 1970s. He later returned to his home state to join the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (later renamed Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) as a computer scientist in 1976. He rose through the ranks from senior scientist, staff scientist, chief scientist, to laboratory fellow.
In the 1980s, he was a member of the founding team who conceptualized and developed the core concepts for what is today’s William R. Wiley Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE scientific user facility located at PNNL. In the early 1990s, to address the problem of information overload, Thomas headed a team of information technology researchers to develop the SPIRE document Visualization (computer graphics) visualization and analytics system. As of 2019, the successor to this system, IN-SPIRE, is still in use. In the early 2000s, Thomas led and coordinated a team to formally define a new research area, visual analytics. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the National Visualization and Analytics Center (NVAC) at PNNL in 2004, naming Thomas as its founding director.[3] On July 31, 2009, Thomas retired from his position at PNNL after 33 years. He died on August 6, 2010.[2]
Professional Societiesedit
Thomas organized the SIGGRAPH conference in 1987, founded and organized the first ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) gathering in 1989, chaired ACM SIGGRAPH from 1989 to 1992, served as editor-in-chief of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications from 2002 to 2006.
He chaired the IEEE Visualization conference in 2003.[4] He helped found the IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST) Symposium that began in 2006. Thomas has also served on industry, government, and international advisory boards.
thomas, computer, scientist, james, thomas, march, 1946, august, 2010, american, computer, scientist, field, visualization, spent, much, career, pacific, northwest, national, laboratory, contents, life, professional, societies, awards, referenceslife, editjame. James Thomas March 26 1946 August 6 2010 was an American computer scientist in the field of visualization 1 He spent much of his career at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Contents 1 Life 2 Professional Societies 3 Awards 4 ReferencesLife editJames Joseph Thomas was born March 26 1946 in Spokane Washington 2 He majored in mathematics at Eastern Washington University and received a master s degree from Washington State University in computer science His professional career started at General Motors where he worked in the area of computer aided graphics and design soon after graduate school in early 1970s He later returned to his home state to join the Pacific Northwest Laboratory later renamed Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a computer scientist in 1976 He rose through the ranks from senior scientist staff scientist chief scientist to laboratory fellow In the 1980s he was a member of the founding team who conceptualized and developed the core concepts for what is today s William R Wiley Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory a DOE scientific user facility located at PNNL In the early 1990s to address the problem of information overload Thomas headed a team of information technology researchers to develop the SPIRE document Visualization computer graphics visualization and analytics system As of 2019 the successor to this system IN SPIRE is still in use In the early 2000s Thomas led and coordinated a team to formally define a new research area visual analytics The U S Department of Homeland Security DHS established the National Visualization and Analytics Center NVAC at PNNL in 2004 naming Thomas as its founding director 3 On July 31 2009 Thomas retired from his position at PNNL after 33 years He died on August 6 2010 2 Professional Societies editThomas organized the SIGGRAPH conference in 1987 founded and organized the first ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology UIST gathering in 1989 chaired ACM SIGGRAPH from 1989 to 1992 served as editor in chief of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications from 2002 to 2006 He chaired the IEEE Visualization conference in 2003 4 He helped found the IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology VAST Symposium that began in 2006 Thomas has also served on industry government and international advisory boards Awards edit1985 Science Digest s Top 100 Scientific Innovations 1986 R amp D Magazines R amp D 100 Award 1989 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer 1996 R amp D Magazine s R amp D 100 Award 1998 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer 2007 Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science 2009 Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation Homeland Security Award 5 References edit PNNL News PNNL honors researchers for career achievements a b James Jim Joseph Thomas March 26 1946 August 6 2010 Obituary January 10 2011 Archived from the original on October 15 2011 Retrieved November 23 2016 NVAC Leadership August 12 2010 Archived from the original on January 10 2012 Retrieved November 23 2016 Vis 2003 Call for Participation IEEE Computer Society Archived from the original on March 19 2003 Retrieved November 23 2016 Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jim Thomas computer scientist amp oldid 1146887324, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
