Robert M. Thompson

Robert Means Thompson (2 March 1849 – 5 September 1930) was a United States Navy officer, business magnate, philanthropist and a president of the American Olympic Association. He is the namesake of the destroyer USS Thompson (DD-627).

He was born in Corsica, Pennsylvania, to John Jamison Thompson and Agnes Kennedy. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on 30 July 1864. Graduating tenth in the class of 1868, Thompson first went to sea in Contoocook in the West Indian Squadron. He later served in Franklin, Richmond, and Guard of the Mediterranean Squadron; as well as in USS Wachusett and at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island.

Commissioned ensign on 19 April 1869, and promoted to master on 12 July 1870, he resigned from the Navy on 18 November 1871, to study law in his brother's office. After he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1872, he was still not satisfied with his legal training so he studied law at Harvard, graduating in 1874. Thompson subsequently practiced law in Boston and was a member of the Boston Common Council from 1876 to 1878. He later became interested in mining and smelting enterprises, by which he earned his fortune. He was president of Orford Copper, which later merged into the International Nickel Company of Canada, of which he served as chairman.

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