John Thomas

Dr. John A. Thomas was born and educated in the Midwest. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Iowa. He has held professorships in departments of pharmacology and toxicology in several medical schools including Iowa, Virginia and West Virginia.

Professor Thomas has been the mentor for many doctoral students and has trained several postdoctoral research associates. From 1973 to 1982 he served as Associate Dean of the School of Medicine at West Virginia University where his responsibilities included graduate programs and research.

In 1982, Dr. Thomas moved into the healthcare industry where he became Vice President for Corporate Research at Baxter Healthcare. While in industry, he was involved in new drug development including recombinant DNA-derived therapeutic agents.

Dr. Thomas served as Vice President at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio from 1988-1998. He is the author of over a dozen textbooks and research monographs and has published nearly 450 scientific articles in the area of endocrine pharmacology and reproductive toxicology. He is a member of numerous societies including the Endocrine Society, the Teratology Society, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Society of Toxicology, and the American College of Toxicology. Professor Thomas serves on several editorial boards of biomedical journals and has been a member of the National Library of Medicine Literature Selection Technical Review Committee.

Dr. Thomas served as a Specialty Editor for Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, and is on the Editorial Board of Food and Chemical Toxicology. He served as member on the Air Force Science Advisory Board. He has been a member of the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Science Committee on Micronutrients, and is past-Chairman of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Canadian Network of Toxicology Centers. He is a member of the FDA Science Advisory Board. He is the recipient of the FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation Award and the FDA’s Advisory Committee Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Thomas served as Chairman of the NTP/NIEHS, Center for Evaluation of Risk to Human Reproduction, Expert Panel on Ethylene and Propylene Glycol as well as being a member of the Expert Panel on soy infant formula and genistein. He is a Diplomate and Fellow in the Academy of Toxicological Sciences as well as a Fellow in the American College of Toxicology. He continues to serve on many scientific boards and committees in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. He served as Vice President for the Texas Society for Biomedical Research, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Life Sciences Institute and on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.

Dr. Thomas is a Past-President of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences. He was named the 1999 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the American College of Toxicology.

Dr. Thomas is Past-President of the American College of Toxicology. He is the recipient of several national awards including the Merit Award from the Society of Toxicology, Certificate of Scientific Service (U.S.E.P.A.), Distinguished Lecturer in Medical Sciences (A.M.A.), and Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Society for Biomedical Research. In addition, he holds Distinguished Alumni Awards from both the University of Wisconsin and the University of Iowa. Recently, he was awarded an FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation. He is an elected foreign member and Fellow of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.