As Told By: Bob Sheldon
I’m Bob Sheldon, President of the Military Operations Research Society (MORS). Clay contributed immensely to MORS and to the entire operations research and management sciences community and was one of our most respected members. Clay was also my mentor and a very dear friend.
MORS recognized Clay’s contributions in several ways. Clay was the first elected MORS Fellow. He was our 9th President and the eleventh recipient of the MORS Wanner Award. But the highest honor MORS bestowed on Clayton was to establish an award in his name. "The Clayton J. Thomas Award recognizes outstanding individuals for consistent, sustained technical contributions to improve the analytical underpinnings of the military operations research profession."
Two of Clay’s favorite scientists were Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton. One of the most recent books Clay recommended to me was How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci’s genius was in both art and science, and he traversed fluidly between them; much like Clay who viewed his work as both an art and a science. Isaac Newton wrote: "If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants." Clay was indeed one of those giants who helped us to see further. As Roy Rice said about Clay, "The kind, little man was a GIANT!" Lee Dick called Clay "A Giant among Giants." Dean Free expressed sentiments felt by all of us, "Clayton was a truly dear friend, probably the kindest and most considerate person I have ever known."
I have an anecdote that reflects both Clay’s witty sense of humor and his tenderness. Last year, Clay and I had just finished polishing up our "Knee in the Curve" technical paper and we had also recently finished Clay’s oral history article. Both were in the current issue of the MOR journal at the printers when the news broke out that Monica Lewinski had an affair with a high-ranking Pentagon official named Thomas. I’m an opportunist so I e-mailed Clay that if word leaked out linking Clay with Monica, MORS would have a guaranteed best-seller for our journal. Besides, Clay was the highest-ranking Thomas in the Pentagon, so mathematically we had a plausible connection. Clay’s response was as follows:
"Normally I would encourage circulation of our MOR journal, but I do have my limits."
He went on to say:
"I cast some doubt on it by reporting the following: Last night I went to bed before the interview was shown, but Jerene, my loving wife of over 56 years, did watch it, and then, as she does every evening, she changed the bandage on my healing chest wound. She made a couple of comments about Monica, but didn’t seem a bit upset. Since she knows me better than I know myself, I feel relieved."
He concluded: "Given these observations, I would conjecture that someone else with a similar name was responsible for the inappropriate behavior."
Lannie Elderkin said "His legacy is the legion of young analysts - now matured - that he touched with his encouragement and wisdom." Wayne Hughes refers to those of us whom Clay mentored as "Thomas’s Tots." I was fortunate to be one of "Thomas’s Tots" like Jim Bexfield and many others. As Clay’s daughter Sherry says, Clay was very passionate. From my vantage point, he was passionate about mathematics and science. Clay delighted in all sorts of math problems and math trivia. Clay was a stickler for the fundamentals of the scientific method. Clayton was a great mentor and a warm and generous friend. We will miss him greatly.