Leaving with a smile
Thomlinson takes on new challenges

May 23, 2008

By Colleen MacPherson

Although he is hanging up his thermoluminescent dosimeter, or radiation detection badge, after almost six years at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron, Bill Thomlinson has no plans to retire any time soon.

The CLS executive director will move July 1 from his current post to a new half-time position in the U of  S Office of the Vice-President Research. There, he will be a special advisor on the University’s strategic projects team, a job he says will be both a challenge and an adventure.

“There are lots of people here at the University of Saskatchewan with lots of great ideas … but most of them never happen,” said Thomlinson in a recent interview with On Campus News. His new role will be to find out why not, and “to and bring the pieces of the puzzle together” to ensure the University is on track with its priorities.

For Thomlinson, the challenge comes “in path-finding, in getting our feet wet” and putting together a strategic project team “based on what we need to get done.” But the new job will also fulfill a personal goal: “One giant step for me is to get rid of the stress. This job has been unbelievably great but it’s also been unbelievably stressful. I’m 66 years old and I want to do other things.”

The executive director believes the timing could not be better for his departure. When he took the position in late 2002, the synchrotron was under construction and still more than two years away from the start of operations. Today, construction continues on additional beamlines but it has become “a fully world-class institution.

“I’ve got the place functioning, we’re turning out great science and the funding situation is stabilized. Now it’s time to drive the science.”

Among his key successes Thomlinson lists the smooth functioning of the facility and unexpected growth in the number of beamlines – seven are in operation, seven are nearing completion and five more are in the works. “We never expected that many but we made the decision to go aggressively for expansion of the resource.”

Another success is seeing use of the facility “growing right on track,” from a local and regional base of users to one that now includes national and international scientists. He is also immensely pleased with the support both the city and province have shown for the synchrotron, a circumstance not common in the industry.

His final victory as executive director came March 1 when the federal government announced a major infusion of operating funds. “It was a turning point,” he said, “in how the government is thinking about big science projects.”

It is an impressive list of accomplishments that for Thomlinson means “that when I walk out of here, I’ve got a smile on my face.”