Morris Thompson

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Morris Thompson in 1998
Morris Thompson in 1998[1]
This graphic from the NTSB depicts the aircraft on Alaska Airlines Flight 261; the crash killed all of the passengers and crew, including Thompson and his wife and daughter.
This graphic from the NTSB depicts the aircraft on Alaska Airlines Flight 261; the crash killed all of the passengers and crew, including Thompson and his wife and daughter.

Morris Thompson (died January 31, 2000) was an American businessman and politician.

An Athabascan Native American[2] born in Tanana, Alaska, United States[3], Thompson served as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning at 34 years of age.[4]; Thompson was the youngest Commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[5] During the Richard Nixon presidency Thompson served as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior. In addition he served as a cabinet-level officer in the first administration of Walter Hickel, the Governor of Alaska.[6]

At 61 years of age and as a resident of Fairbanks[7], Thompson went with his wife Thelma and his daughter Sheryl to Mexico for vacation; Thompson and his family died in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 on January 31, 2000 while flying back to the United States.[6]

The Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center is named after Thompson.

Advance fee fraud (419, Nigerian scam) con men used Thompson's name in various scams unrelated to Thompson.[5] The Alaska Federation of Natives altered one of its web pages to warn e-mail users about the scheme.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The victims of Flight 261." The Boston Globe.
  2. ^ "Victims of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 remembered." Seattle Times.
  3. ^ "Morris Thompson." Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center
  4. ^ "Fate Leads An Airline To Grieve For Itself," The New York Times
  5. ^ a b "Nigerian Advance Fee Scam Customized for Alaska: Morris Thompson variation could be taste of ploys to come." State of Alaska Department of Law.
  6. ^ a b "Morris Thompson: Alaska business and Native leader used personable style for success." Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  7. ^ "Names of those aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 261." CNN.
  8. ^ "Email Scam." Alaska Federation of Natives.

[edit] External links

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