Governor, District 6840

Ken spent most of his working career as a Petroleum Engineer and Engineering Supervisor, working along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana, and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. He has also worked as a financial representative and stockbroker prior to retirement.

He has been a Rotarian since 2000, serving as Club President in 2008-2009. He was chair of the Slidell Heritage Festival for three years, a joint venture between the Rotary Clubs of Slidell and Slidell Northshore.  He has participated in ten Matching Grants and Global Grants and traveled four times to Mexico to immunize children against polio.

His current Rotary duties are District International Service Director, Rotary Leadership Institute Facilitator, Global Grants Chair, and Annual Fund Chair. He served for four years as District Newsletter Editor and District Website Manager and has participated in the last six Ole Man River PETS. He is a ShelterBox Ambassador and serves on staff at the annual training in Texas for new Ambassadors. ShelterBox is a Rotary Project Partner, specializing in disaster relief.

He has been named District Rotarian of the Year once and Club Rotarian of the Year twice. He has also received a Governor’s Award and District Meritorious Service Award. While president, his club was named Rotary Club of the Year–Medium. He is a Major Donor, Benefactor, and a Bequest Society member.

In 2015, he returned from a US–Russia Friendship Exchange program in western Russia and spoke on his experiences at an international conference in Houston. He also participated in a Friendship Exchange to New England. Thompson has hosted three Rotary Youth Exchange Students and is active in Kairos Prison Ministries. His wife Paula and he have one daughter, Kathryn, who lives in Arizona. He is a member of the Aldersgate United Methodist Church choir in Slidell and sings for the Northlake Performing Arts Society in Covington.