Raymond Webb Jr. THOMPSON

Raymond Thompson attended the US Naval Academy, where he was on the swim team, winning the 1933 NCAA Championship in the 50 yard freestyle. He made the 1932 Olympic team by placing second in the US Olympic Trials in the 100 metre freestyle. Thompson was President of his class at Annapolis, and later earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. During World War II he served aboard the battleship Washington and participated in combat at Guadalcanal. His immediate post-war duty was aboard destroyers. He later settled in the Washington area, serving on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retiring from the Navy in 1963. Thompson then joined NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) where he worked as a liaison to other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, retiring from there in 1974.