As Told By: General Larry Welch (Retired, USAF)
Celebrating the life and accomplishments of Clayton Thomas is not something we can do adequately in this short service or even a very long service. Instead his life and accomplishments are celebrated in the legacy he leaves to all of us — family, friends, professional colleagues and admirers.
In 1955, Clayton Thomas started his government service continuing what would be his lifelong vocation and avocation — advancing the state of the art in operations research, providing insights for decision making, and mentoring generations of operations research and systems analysis people. I am fortunate to count myself among the many who benefited on all three counts from his patient wisdom and his intense dedication to the search for truth. When he came to the Air Force 45 years ago, few people even knew what the term, "operations research" meant. But, he was already an authority in the field.
During his more than a half century of service in that field, he was recognized with a host of honors for his contributions. But, I have no doubt that the honor most important to him was the continuing daily business of adding to the state of operations research, adding to the knowledge and understanding of practitioners of all ages and experiences, and providing new and more complete insight for decisions of ever increasing complexity.
My last conversation with Clayton was at a meeting of the Military Operations Research Society. During that conversation, he made several typically penetrating and helpful suggestions regarding the subject of my presentation at that meeting. I, like hundreds of other, always found it to my benefit to listen carefully to his thoughts.
He made it easy to do that. He was invariably thoughtful — in substance and in style. Clayton Thomas was a rare mind and is still a great soul. He lived a grand life of love, friendship and accomplishment. He leaves a grand legacy. Along with his family, and his many friends, the world of operations research will miss him.