William L. Thompson
Military person
William “T” Thompson, a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was one of the first African-American students to desegregate previously all-white Orangeburg High School in 1965. He became the first African-American from South Carolina to receive an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, 1969. Captain Thompson has also enjoyed a twenty-five year tenure with Delta Air Lines and has served as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission. The longest serving Commissioner in its history, he has worked under both Democratic and Republican governors.
