This site is maintained by Bruce Thompson, a professor in the Rader School of Business at Milwaukee School of Engineering. For many years I was the program director for the Master of Science in Engineering Management.

I have been at MSOE a little over twenty five years, originally in mechanical engineering but more recently in the business school. Prior to coming to MSOE, I worked almost ten years in environmental affairs at the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., two years at the GE Missile and Space Division, and two years in the Peace Corps teaching physics and mathematics in Bolivia.

I received a BA in physics from Amherst College, MS and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

While at MSOE, I have tried to stay involved with other activities. For several years, I ran a software company called Practical Programs, Inc., which made tax software for the early personal computers. Then I owned the Downtown Montessori School and ran the business side of it (it is now a City of Milwaukee charter school). Starting in 1997, I served on the Milwaukee School Board for four years, the last two as president. The latter has led to a continuing interest in k-12 educational issues, which helps explain many of the papers on this site. After a break of six years, I was reelected to the Milwaukee School Board in April of 2007, as the city-wide representative on the board.

I am also involved with several other web sites: two aimed at educational issues and one more for fun:

• Schools Now was a blog devoted to Milwaukee educational issues. It has been quiet lately, partly because it has already covered many of the issues I find most compelling, but mainly because I have recently become more of an actor, and less of a commentator, on the Milwaukee educational scene.
• In 2004, I started editing a journal called Third Education Group Review. The mission of the journal is to provoke serious discussion of educational policy issues. It is available on-line.
• Wisconsin Bicycle Routes is a chance to collect information on the best bicycle routes in and around Wisconsin. I also researched a bicycle map of Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin and one of Madison and Dane county.

Here is how to contact me:

Prof. Bruce Thompson

Office: R-304

Phone: (414) 277-7378

FAX: (414) 277-7479 E-mail: thompson@msoe.edu

Last Updated on August 31, 2012 by Bruce Thompson