Persona

Thompson, Evelina J.

1914 - 1985

Evelina Thompson received her B.A. from Queen's University and B.Ed. from University of Toronto. After teaching for ten years in Kingston, Hamilton and London, Ms. Thompson joined Ryerson Faculty of Business in 1954, concentrating her attention on Secretarial Science. In 1968, she became the first chairman of the Secretarial Science Department, today known as Administrative and Information Management. As Chairman, Ms. Thompson developed, in 1972, a four-year Secretarial Science program and the first degree program at Ryerson available through part-time studies in 1976. Ms. Thompson, however, was very much devoted to students and, in 1977, decided to step down from her chairman's position to resume her teaching career. In 1979, Ms. Thompson became a member of the 25-Year Club and in 1980 retired from teaching. In her retirement, Ms. Thompson actively participated in Ryerson activities such as chairing the Faculty Internal Canvas Committee of Ryerson's fundraising campaign and participated in the Seniors Studies Program. She was an active member of the President's Advisory Committee on Senior Involvement at Ryerson (PACSIR) and was chairman of one of its sub-committees.

Evelina Thompson, throughout her teaching career at Ryerson, was a prolific author. From 1967 - 1976, she wrote several texts and reference books on the Pitman Shorthand Method. In 1971, with George Reid of the University of Toronto, she modified the Pitman Shorthand system and called it Shorterhand. The Pitman Shorterhand system has been used at Ryerson and has received world-wide acceptance. Evelina Thompson died on December 22, 1985.