United States

John W. Thompson is chairman of the board of directors and retired chief executive officer of Symantec Corporation. Under Thompson's leadership, Symantec has grown from a small consumer software publisher to the market leader for security and availability solutions to help customers manage their rapidly growing digital assets. With global operations in more than 40 countries, the company is viewed as a strategic partner to its customers, providing a broad range of security, storage, availability, and performance management solutions to help them proactively manage their IT infrastructure.

Prior to joining Symantec, Thompson was with the IBM Corporation where he held senior executive positions in sales, marketing and software development. Thompson was general manager of IBM Americas and a member of the company's Worldwide Management Council.

Thompson completed his undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University and holds a master's degree in management science from MIT's Sloan School of Management.

In September 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Thompson to the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee to make recommendations regarding the security of the critical infrastructure of the United States. In addition, Thompson has served as the chair of the Silicon Valley Blue Ribbon Task Force on Aviation Security and Technology to identify and evaluate technology-driven solutions to improve the security and efficiency of national and local aviation.