Submitted by University of Puget Sound.
TACOMA, Wash. – University of Puget Sound mourns the passing of President Emeritus Ronald R. Thomas, who died at the home he shared with his wife, Mary, on Vashon Island, Wash., on Monday, April 17, 2023. He was 74 years old.
“Ron gave full measure of heart and soul to Puget Sound. Every member of our Logger community has been touched by Ron’s commitment to this university, and his tireless work to support our students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, donors, trustees, and friends,” said current Puget Sound President Isiaah Crawford. “His vision not only transformed our physical campus; it also enriched our spirit by strengthening our bonds with Tacoma, the broader community, and most of all, our alumni throughout the world.”
Thomas served as University of Puget Sound’s president from 2003 to 2016. During his tenure, he led the implementation of the Defining Moments strategic plan, the Tapestry of Learning master plan, and the ONE [of a Kind] capital campaign—the most ambitious fundraising effort in the university’s history, which surpassed its goal and raised $131.6 million in support of campus facilities, programs, and the endowment to fund student financial aid and other critical needs. His time as president included the completion of the science center renovation; the construction of Harned Hall; the envisioning and building of Weyerhaeuser Hall as a center for the health sciences; the creation of Commencement Walk and Commencement Hall, which was later renamed Thomas Hall in honor of Ron and Mary Thomas; and the Athletics & Aquatics Center. An insightful scholar, masterful writer, and inspirational leader, he was well-loved on campus, with students affectionately referring to him as “Ron Thom.”
A highly visible and enthusiastic ambassador for Puget Sound and liberal arts education, Thomas served on the boards of the American Council on Education, the Annapolis Group, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times Higher Education Cabinet, the Independent Colleges of Washington, and the President’s Council for NCAA Division III.
Following the conclusion of his service to Puget Sound, Thomas continued to be actively involved in the local community and in higher education, most recently as a member of the Board of Trustees of the College of Idaho and the Vashon Center for the Arts. In 2016, he participated in the inauguration of Puget Sound’s 14th president, Isiaah Crawford, along with Presidents Emeriti Philip M. Phibbs and Susan Resneck Pierce.
Ronald R. Thomas was born in Orange, N.J., grew up on the boardwalks of Ocean Grove, and graduated from Neptune High School in 1967. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts in English literature from Wheaton College (Illinois) in 1971, followed by a master of arts and Ph.D. in English and American literature from Brandeis University in 1978 and 1983, respectively. He received an honorary doctor of humane letters, honoris causa, from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., in 2002 and from the University of Portland in 2016 for his extraordinary contributions to scholarship and teaching and for his national leadership in higher education and public service.
Thomas’ scholarly work focused on the role of the novel from the Victorian age through modernity. He authored hundreds of essays, op-eds, speeches, and letters, as well as the books Dreams of Authority: Freud and the Fictions of the Unconscious (1990) and Detective Fiction and the Rise of Forensic Science (1999).
A memorial service will be held at the University of Puget Sound at a date to be determined. In
lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Ron and Mary Thomas
Endowed Scholarship or the Ronald R. Thomas Endowed Scholarship in Writing at University
of Puget Sound, and to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Gifts to Puget Sound in Ron Thomas’s memory can be made online at pugetsound.edu/restrictedgifts or by mail to University of Puget Sound, Office of Donor Relations, 1500 N. Warner St. #1011, Tacoma, WA 98416-1011.
About Puget Sound
A nationally ranked residential liberal arts and sciences college in Tacoma, Wash., University of Puget Sound enrolls 1,800 undergraduate students from across the country and around the world, as well as 300 graduate students in education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and public health. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty members who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 areas of study. Puget Sound graduates include Rhodes and Luce scholars, notables in the arts and culture, scholars and scientists, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A top producer of Fulbright U.S. Students, Puget Sound is the only nationally ranked independent liberal arts college in Western Washington, and one of just five independent colleges in the Northwest granted a charter by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society.
