Obituary of Professor Jon H. Thompson

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear and close friend Dr. Jon H. Thompson. He passed away peacefully on December 29, 2025, at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton.

Jon was born in 1942 in Newcastle, New Brunswick, now part of the city of Miramichi. In 1960, he was awarded the highly selective Beaverbrook Scholarship to study at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). In 1964, he obtained a BSc in Mathematics at UNB, and in 1970 completed a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Toronto. From 1970 to 2007, Jon was a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at UNB’s Fredericton campus. Upon his retirement, he was appointed Professor Emeritus for his exceptional contributions to UNB, mathematical science, academic values, and the Canadian academic community.

Dr. Thompson served as Department Chair of Mathematics and Statistics for seventeen years and in this time helped transform the department and enhance its research profile. He also helped found the Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences, one of the four regional institutes representing the mathematical community in Canada. He was active in numerous professional and learned societies, and served on the Beaverbrook Scholarship committee.

Dr. Thompson made outstanding contributions to the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers (AUNBT). He served as AUNBT president and participated in UNB faculty efforts to unionize and secure the union’s first collective agreement with the University. He served in other AUNBT roles, including grievance officer. Throughout his career and into retirement, Jon provided valuable counsel to AUNBT and to individual UNB faculty and staff.

Dr. Thompson’s work with the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) earned him recognition as one of Canada’s foremost defenders of academic freedom and due process. From 1985 to 1988, he chaired CAUT’s Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. In 1993, CAUT presented Dr. Thompson with its James B. Milner Memorial Award for his distinguished contributions to academic freedom.

Dr. Thompson is best known for his work on two landmark reports commissioned by CAUT, during which he demonstrated extraordinary courage and integrity. From 1999 to 2001, he chaired the independent commission appointed by CAUT to investigate efforts by the Hospital for Sick Children and the pharmaceutical company Apotex Inc. to prevent University of Toronto professor of medicine Dr. Nancy Olivieri from reporting an unexpected medical risk to patients. Dr. Thompson and the other committee members, Patricia Baird and Jocelyn Downie, published the landmark Olivieri Report in 2001 (James Lorimer & Co.). In 2009, CAUT comissioned Dr. Thompson to report on the concerns expressed by organizers of an academic conference on models of statehood for Israel and Palestine at York University that their academic freedom was threatened. He reported his findings in the 2011 book No Debate: The Israel Lobby and Free Speech at Canadian Universities (James Lorimer & Co.).

From 2004 to 2013, Dr. Thompson also served on the Board of the Harry Crowe Foundation, a charitable organization that undertakes education and research on the role of post-secondary teaching and research in contemporary society.

In honour of Dr. Thompson’s many contributions to academic freedom, the AUNBT inaugurated the Jon Thompson Lecture Series in 2012. The series invites speakers to deliver lectures on academic freedom at both the UNB Saint John and UNB Fredericton campuses.

Jon read widely and voraciously on history, science, the environment, and current affairs. He loved art and classical music. Jon was a proud New Brunswicker. The love of the natural world that guided him throughout his life began at the family farm in Chatham on the Miramichi River. He enjoyed fishing, cross-country skiing, hiking, camping, and canoeing on New Brunswick’s many rivers and especially on Spednic Lake with his wife, Charlotte Glencross, an accomplished textile artist, art advocate, and teacher who passed in 2007. Always willing to hear and share stories, he was a regular at the Boyce Farmers’ Market and Aura Whole Foods. Jon was an excellent cook, who together with Charlotte graciously extended warm hospitality to friends and colleagues sharing many a hearty meal, over animated conversations at their dining room table. He will be remembered and missed for his kindness and readiness to assist, his keen sense of fairness, and his humour and sharp wit.

In accordance with Jon’s wishes, there will not be a formal visitation. Instead, an event will be held in Fredericton at a later date (time and place to be announced in due course) where Jon’s friends and family will gather to honour and celebrate his life. Interment will be in Miramichi in the spring. In lieu of flowers, and in recognition of Jon’s generosity, donations can be made to any of the numerous organizations and causes which he supported, including: Indspire, Doctors Without Borders, Canadian Red Cross, UNICEF, UNHCR.

* Black and white portrait photo: Joy Cummings