William McIlwaine Thompson, Jr. – 50th Reunion Essay

William McIlwaine Thompson, Jr.

105 W. High Street

Charlottesville, VA 22902

wmthompson@wmtpc.com

434-242-0342

Spouse(s): Elsie Wilson Thompson (1981)

Child(ren): William McIlwaine Thompson, III (1982); Alice Haven Thompson Boothby (1984); Anne Claiborne Thompson (1989); Orme Wilson Thompson (1993)

Grandchild(ren): Clara Pryor Thompson (2015); Grace Wilson Thompson (2016)

Education: BA Yale, 1969; JD, UVA, 1972

College: Branford

While I was practicing law in Richmond after graduating from UVA Law, a friend and I started an oil and gas exploration company in the aftermath of the Arab oil embargo of 1973. In 1976 I moved to Houston to help him run the company, which we built up and sold in the early ’80s. I loved the energy business, but the best part of the journey to Houston—a great city to live in—was meeting my wife, Elsie Dunn Wilson (AB, Harvard and JD, UVA). In 1984 we moved to Charlottesville, where I have spent the last 30 years working as a lawyer with, and sometimes an investor in, early-stage companies (many spinning out of UVA) in various fields, including biotechnology, education, engineering, packaging, insurance, and energy—oil and gas, uranium, solar, wind, and wave. Since 1996, I have been affiliated in an of counsel role with Woods Rogers PLC, a regional law firm based in Roanoke, Virginia.

Living in a small community, Elsie and I have been very involved in numerous nonprofit activities. We have been on the boards or advisory boards of at least six UVA-related entities. I have been on the board and chairman of the UVA Curry School of Education and the local opera company, and I’ve been involved with many other local organizations. Recently I joined the board of the Virginia Humanities, a statewide cultural foundation, and helped organize and served on the board of the Community Investment Collaborative, which provides education, microloans, and mentoring for under-resourced entrepreneurs, and have enjoyed giving pro bono legal advice to some of these enterprising people.

Active at First Presbyterian Church, I have taught an adult Sunday School (my apologies to my family whose weekend travels were limited during that time), sung in the choir, and served as a deacon and elder on the board of Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond and as moderator of the area Presbytery.

We have four wonderful children, all of whom went to Groton School. Three went to Harvard (!?!) and one to the University of Edinburgh. They all live in New York City, three within two blocks of each other and the fourth child is not too far away from the rest. My son and his wife have two little girls and our daughter and her husband are expecting a boy in May of 2018. It’s great being a doting granddad!

I still play tennis and enjoy hiking in the Appalachian Mountains or just walking around the neighborhood. And I always have a book—or several—at hand, generally history, but I intersperse serious books with lighter fare from time to time.

Coming from a public high school in Richmond, I found the academic opportunities at Yale to be very exciting. Many friendships that I made there continue. Come visit us!

I feel most fortunate to be married to a bright, attractive, warm, and caring (for family, community, and nation) woman—truly my better half—and to have four delightful children who are good friends and in close proximity to each other—and now grandchildren!