James Sutherland Thomson (1892 – November 18, 1972) was a Canadian academic, President of the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

, and Moderator of the United Church of Canada

Moderator of the United Church of Canada

The Moderator of the United Church of Canada is the presiding leader of the United Church of Canada, Canada's largest Protestant denomination. The church is highly decentralized and non-dogmatic and the moderator has only limited power...

.

Biography

Born in Stirling

Stirling

Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

, Scotland, he was educated at the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

. He studied theology at Trinity College, Glasgow

Trinity College, Glasgow

Trinity College, Glasgow, Scotland, is the Church of Scotland's College at the University of Glasgow. It provides special supervision of candidates for the ministry through a Principal and a College Council...

 and was ordained into the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

 in 1920. In 1930, he was appointed professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion at Pine Hill Divinity Hall (now part of the Atlantic School of Theology

Atlantic School of Theology

The Atlantic School of Theology is a Canadian ecumenical university which provides "graduate level theological education and research, and in formation for Christian ministries, lay and ordained, in church and society, primarily in Atlantic Canada". It is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia and its...

) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From 1937 to 1949, he was the second President of the University of Saskatchewan. During World War II, he was general manager of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 from 1942 to 1943.

In 1949, he became Dean of the Faculty of Divinity and professor of the philosophy of religion at McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

. From 1956 to 1958, he was Moderator of the United Church of Canada.

He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

Royal Society of Canada

The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...

in 1942.