THOMAS K. SIMPSON
Curriculum Vitae
133 Lawrence St., Apt. 81W
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Born: Brooklyn, NY January 28, 1924
EDUCATION
1941
Graduate, Glens Falls High School, Glens Falls NY
1941-43
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
Undergraduate, physics (interrupted: called up as U.S. Army reservist, 1943)
1945
ASTP Certificate, electrical engineering (U.S. ARMY) Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia
1950
B.A. in the Liberal Arts, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland
1956
M.A. in Teaching, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
1968
Ph.D., History of Science and Technology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1945-4
Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins Univ., Silver Spring, Maryland. (U.S. Army radio proximity fuse project).
1950-53
Instructor, physics and mathematics, The American University at Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
1955
Wesleyan University: recipient of grant to study the History of the Liberal Arts.
1957-89
Tutor, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. (Retired as Tutor Emeritus, 1989).
1968-80
One of the founders, and first Chairman of the Board, of the Key School, Annapolis, Maryland. Subsequently, teacher, curriculum consultant, Development Director, and board member.
1966-68
Consultant to the Division of Electricity, the Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, DC.
1968
American Philosophical Society grantee to study manuscript materials of James Clerk Maxell in England and Scotland; photo study included Maxwell’s estate, Glenlair.
1979-80
Panel member, study sponsored by the National Science Foundation, on “The Role of the Science Museum in Contemporary Society”, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1980-82
Consultant to the Franklin Institute in preparation of an exhibit on the transformation of ship design from an art to a technology, based on materials from the Cramp Shipyard in Philadelphia.
1978-81
Consultant and expert witness in Brewer, et al. Vs Southern Union, a successful class-action lawsuit alleging price-fixing in the natural gas industry in New Mexico.
1988-89
Recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to write a book in the Guided Studies in Science series: “Maxwell on the Electromagnetic Field”.
1981
Chair, symposium on the Computer and the Liberal Arts, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
1992-96
Consultant to the Science Museum of Minnesota on the Experiment Bench program, and NSF-sponsored project to develop exhibits to function as experiments performed by museum visitors.
1996
Leader of Humanities Seminars at the annual meetings of the Association of Science/Technology Centers (ASTC).
1996-99
Consultant at Judson Montessori School, San Antonio, Texas, in the development of “Gateways and Pathways” program.
1998
Panelist on “Digital Media in Museums”, American Association of Museums conference, Los Angeles, California.
2001-05
Seminar leader in programs at the California Science Center, Los Angeles, California: initially “Art and Science” (co-sponsored with the Getty Museum) (2001-2003); subsequently seminar leader for the series, “Science Matters.”
2002
Member of the Board, the Sister Creek Center for the Liberal Arts, a center for environmental study based in San Antonio, Texas.
2008
Presenter at the pilot workshop of the Cosmic Serpent project, exploring relations between Native American views of the natural world and those of western science.