Jack arrived at Tech in 1968 as the football program’s director of recruiting. He worked in that position for coaches Bud Carson, Bill Fulcher and Pepper Rodgers before he was promoted to assistant athletic director in 1977 and then to associate AD in 1982. He held that job until he retired in 2018.
Jack made a mark as an outstanding fundraiser and received credit for having raised nearly $600 million for the Alexander-Tharpe Fund.
“Jack was a friend, mentor and counselor to so many of us former student-athletes and the one who helped many of us get our first jobs out of Tech,” said Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury, also a Tech alumnus, in a statement released by Tech.
“What an incredible legacy he has in the thousands of Georgia Tech student-athletes he helped along the way. Jack’s passing is a tremendous loss personally for all of us who knew him and worked with him, and to the many alumni and benefactors who have supported our athletic programs over his many years of service. He was a Georgia Tech institution. During his half century here, there was not one student-athlete, coach or staff member that came through The Flats who didn’t benefit from Jack’s hard work, incredible talent and love for the Yellow Jackets. He will be greatly missed.”
According to Tech, Thompson raised money for “the construction or major renovation of every athletics facility on Tech’s campus. His efforts also provided scholarships for thousands of student-athletes to receive their education and degrees from Georgia Tech.”
He is survived by his wife, Mary, his son Scott Thompson (Lori) of Canton, GA, daughter Tracy Chuck (Chris) and grandchildren Hudson and Grayson Chuck of Roswell, GA. He was preceded in death by his son William Jackson Thompson III (Jay).
A memorial service for Jack will be held Friday, July 30, 2021 from 11:00AM at H.M. Patterson & Son-Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Road NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30328
