On April 29, 2010, Michael was honored by the elementary students and staff of The Cobb School Montessori in Simsbury CT.

 "A new bluebird house was unveiled by the Head of School, Mary Lou Cobb. The bluebird house and plaque are dedicated to the memory of Professor Michael Thomas, father of Helen Castellani and grandfather of Cobb alumni Rebecca and Michael Castellani. Among his many accomplishments Prof. Thomas was an ornithologist and author on the subject.   Mrs. Castellani told our students how her father loved to watch the bluebirds when he traveled here from Scotland.  Two Upper Elementary students read a biography of Professor Thomas which they had researched and written. Another student told about efforts to help restore eastern bluebird populations. Two other students read their nature poetry.  A special thanks to Barbara Friedland for coordinating this event."

My father did love to visit CT in the Spring for he was sure to see Eastern Bluebirds. He would be so proud to see the interest the children are showing in birdwatching and would be extremely honored to have a bluebird house erected in his memory.

My deepest thanks go to Mary Lou Cobb, the children and staff of The Cobb School for this tribute.

 Helen Thomas Castellani

Happy the man and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
Be fair or foul or rain or shine
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

PROFESSOR MICHAEL JAMES THOMAS, OBE., OM. [POLAND], FCIM, FMRS
Eminent Marketing Academic and Ornithologist

Professor Michael J. Thomas, aged 76, died on January 30th at his home in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, after a brief illness.

Professor Thomas was an eminent academic who made key contributions to the theory, practice and profession of marketing. During his long career, he launched the United Kingdom’s first two academic Departments of Marketing at Lancaster University and the University of Strathclyde. At his death, he was Emeritus Professor at Strathclyde.
He was also founding editor of the prestigious Journal of Marketing Intelligence and Planning, and served that publication as editor for more than 21 years.

Professor Thomas served as president of the Market Research Society, which awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. He was a past chairman of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a past chairman of the Academy of Marketing, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

During the 1980s, Professor Thomas worked with the British Council and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office assessing the management training needs in a market-based economy in Poland. He helped establish the Gdansk Managers Training Foundation, which has evolved into one of Poland’s top business schools. In recognition of his contribution to developing and supporting Poland’s emerging economy, Professor Thomas was awarded the prestigious Commander’s Cross of the Polish Order of Merit in 1994.

In 1999, he was awarded the OBE by the Queen for his services to Poland.

Michael Thomas was born in 1933 in Birmingham, the son of Marguerite Dinah Hughes and James Henry Thomas. He did his National Service as an officer in the Royal West African Frontier Force in Nigeria from 1952-1953, and then read economics at University College London. He won a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States and received his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Indiana in 1956.

He began his academic career at Syracuse University in New York, where he taught for eleven years before returning to England to join the faculty at Lancaster University. There, he championed the development of the new discipline of marketing management and eventually rose to Head of Department. In 1987, he moved to Glasgow, Scotland, when he was offered the Chair in Marketing at Strathclyde University.

He authored or contributed to more than 30 books on marketing strategy, management, research and education. He was a consultant to numerous organizations in the U.K., the United States and Europe, including the United Nations Development Program. He conducted management seminars worldwide and held visiting professorships at universities in Finland, Malta, the United States, Poland and England.

In addition to his academic work, Professor Thomas was an avid birdwatcher and ornithologist. He wrote four books on birds and authored a study on the marketing of John James Audubon’s seminal Birds of America. He was a member of the Scottish Ornithological Club and the Argyll Bird Club and was a popular lecturer in Scotland and England. Professor Thomas had visited five continents to follow his passion of observing birds and had a worldwide network of friends and associates in ornithological societies.

Professor Thomas is survived by his wife of 51 years, Nancy; two children, Helen and Huw; two grandchildren, Rebecca and Michael; a sister, Jennifer Glaister and numerous nieces and nephews