In Memoriam: Jay Thom

Jay had a gift for filtering through large amounts of data and assessing project sites with challenging topographic constraints to identify creative and elegant solutions. However, despite his undeniable technical strengths, his greatest contribution to society stemmed from his passion for people. Jay always had the time to engage with and mentor those around him. He embraced the concept of knowledge transfer, and his mantra was ”we’re not in the business of developing projects, we’re in the business of developing exceptional engineers, and projects are the vehicle by which we do that.”

Beyond his professional life, Jay was deeply committed to his family and his faith. As the father of seven children, he made the time to coach sports and be a positive role model for his family. He was also actively involved with his church, including serving on missions to South America to share his faith and work to improve the quality of life in impoverished areas.
 
His passion, integrity, and strength of character are an inspiration to those of us who had the privilege to know him. The dam safety community is stronger, and our lives are richer, because of Jay’s contributions to society.

We will miss you, Jay.