Ian Thomas is the Founder & CEO of Thomas Global Ventures. Ian brings thirty years of experience spanning four continents, including fifteen with The Boeing Company where he served in a variety of senior leadership roles in the US and Europe and as CEO, successively, in the UK, India, Australia, and China. Ian led Boeing’s operations in four of the world’s largest and most dynamic aerospace markets. Prior to Boeing, Ian served in the Office of NATO Policy at the Pentagon. He has written widely on US and Allied defense and security issues and is the author of The Promise of Alliance: NATO and the Political Imagination. Ian has served as a director on a wide range of public, private and non-profit boards, including GBST, an ASX-listed company which provides software and services to the global financial services industry; FinClear, a privately-held financial services and stockbroking company (both based in Sydney); and the China Advisory Board of Adecco SA. Other directorships include the China B20 Business Advisory Group, the US-India Educational Foundation, the Australian American Fulbright Commission, the Aerospace Advisory Board at Cranfield University, the Royal United Services Institute in London, the US-India Business Council, the US-China Aviation Cooperation Program, the Business Council of Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. During his time in Australia, he chaired the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Leaders Group, was a member of the Prime Minister’s Innovation Task Force, and served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce. Ian holds an MPhil in international relations and a PhD in history from the University of Cambridge, a graduate diploma in social sciences from Stockholm University, a bachelor’s degree cum laude in history from Amherst College, and a high school diploma from the Texas Military Institute. He is a recipient of the US Defense Exceptional Public Service Medal and the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Medal for outstanding contributions to aviation.