Robert Thoms
CEE Hall of Distinction: 2021
Robert Lee Thoms was born at home near Nixon, Texas, on May 10, 1933. He graduated from the local public school in May, 1950, and then attended Texas Lutheran College in Seguin1950-1952. He next attended The University of Texas (The U of T) from 1952 until January, 1955, where he earned the B.S. in Architectural Engineering (Arch.E). This entailed taking all courses with Civil Engineering (CE) students except for the substitution of architectural design courses in place of an extensive land surveying program. During this period he was inducted into the honorary engineering societies of Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi. Upon graduation he was offered a position as Instructor in the CE department by the chairman, Phil M. Ferguson, and began teaching and graduate studies.
He took coursework and did research at The U of T from 1955-1956. During this time he also met and courted his future wife, Ann Fraser. He next taught in the Math department at Del Mar Junor College in Corpus Christi, Texas, from 1956-1957. He and Ann were married in early 1957. They moved back to Austin in the summer of 1957 where he completed his work for the M.S. in Arch.E under the direction of Hudson Matlock in the CE department.
From 1957-1959 he taught in the Engineering Mechanics (EM) department and took graduate level courses at The U of T. He and Ann welcomed the arrival of their first child, Rebecca (Becky) Lynn, In the fall of 1959. Shortly thereafter he left to take up teaching and pursuit of the Ph.D. in the department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM) at the University of Illinois (UI) in Champaign-Urbana. Ann and Becky joined him some six weeks later following a long train trip from Texas.
While at the UI from 1959-1962 he was inducted into Sigma Xi and received a Ford Foundation teaching fellowship. He completed requirements for the Ph.D. in TAM from UI in mid-September, 1962, and he and Ann and now three little Thoms (Becky, Heather, and Eric) headed south to Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge.
From 1962 to 1982 He taught undergraduate and graduate courses at LSU in departments that evolved from Engineering Mechanics to Engineering Science and ultimately Civil Engineering. He and Ann also welcomed a fourth member (Bryan) to their family in 1964. He attained the rank of Full Professor in 1969 during sabbatical leave with family at the University of Washington in Seattle. While at LSU he served as the first president of the newly formed faculty senate and on numerous committees including two Chancellor search committees. He was also elected to Phi Kappa Phi and became a Professional (Civil) Engineer (P.E.) in Louisiana at this time. His research and advanced teaching activities are noted in his resume and are not repeated here.
Dr. Thoms elected early retirement from LSU in 1982 after 20 years of service and began a consulting career.. He and Richard M. Gehle incorporated “Applied Geomechanics” in Louisiana for consulting in mining and storage in salt formations. By 1988 he and Ann were “empty nesters” and they moved to College Station, Texas. Here he and Mr. Gehle formed AGM, Inc., a Texas company also specializing in issues related to usage of salt formations. Dr. Thoms was also appointed an Adjunct Professor of Geophysics and visiting member of the Graduate Faculty at Texas A&M.
He decided to try semi-retirement in 2001 after a productive stay in College Station. He and Ann moved to Waveland on the coast of Mississippi while Richard Gehle remained in Texas as a research assistant in the CE department of Texas A&M. Their stay in Waveland was generally a happy one with early morning walks on the beach, fishing, and visits by family. Their sojourn in Mississippi was brought to an abrupt end in August, 2005, by the arrival of hurricane Katrina.
He and Ann returned to Baton Rouge after Katrina and have lived here since. Sadly, Richard Gehle died in 2006 of Pancreatic Cancer. Dr. Thoms continued his semi-retired consulting career until almost fully retiring in 2018, i.e., he remains a member of the Environmental Advisory Committee to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
