When the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics was established at Michigan State University, it was not only the first position of its kind at the university, but also one of the first in the country. Holding the position from 2003-2022, Paul Thompson, Georgia Tech '72, is now happily retired. Thompson’s reasoning for taking the position never changed throughout his twenty years at Michigan State; it was the first of its kind and he didn’t want one of his friends to have it. Thompson now serves as emeritus faculty in the departments of Philosophy, Community Sustainability and Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics.

Along with his tenure at Michigan State, Thompson has been one of the leading voices in the field of Agriculture and Environmental Ethics. He has six books published, with a seventh on the way. His book From Field to Fork: Food Ethics for Everyone was published by Oxford University Press in 2015. It won the “Book of the Year” award for 2015 from the North American Society for Social Philosophy. Another revered work, The Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics was released in a revised and updated second edition in 2017. Thompson has also authored or co-authored over two hundred articles in refereed journals or scholarly books. This distinguished career doesn’t stop there, Thompson was a founding member and second President of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, which awarded him its award for Distinguished Career Contribution in Research in 2013. He also served on advisory boards at the U.S. National Research Council, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and for numerous academic journals, including Environmental Ethics and Agriculture and Human Values. He was a founding member and second President of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, which awarded him its award for Distinguished Career Contribution in Research in 2013.

Not only spending much of his career in academia, Thompson stated, “I spent far too long as an undergraduate.” Beginning his education at the University of Northern Colorado, he then transferred to Georgia Tech where he was pursuing a math degree. While at Georgia Tech, Thompson was looking for an excuse to move out of the dorms and a community to aid him in his transition. This led him to join Phi Kappa Tau. He remembers the brotherhood fondly, and his friendship with Blake Putney, Jr, Georgia Tech '72, resulted in his first risk assessment position—Thompson considers this the beginning of his path to philosophy.

Enjoying the spoils of retirement, Thompson spends much of his time with his wife, Diane, their two children, and four grandchildren. The couple split time between their house in Michigan and Diane’s family farm in South Georgia.