Simon Thomas (presenter) 2:1 BA Hons degree in history. Having applied for the job three times, Thomas began presenting the children's programme "Blue Peter" on 8 January 1999 replacing the sacked presenter Richard Bacon. Previously he had worked as a runner at Children's BBC and the radio station LBC. During his tenure at "Blue Peter", he ran in the London Marathon twice and two Great North Runs, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, completed over 40 solo sky dives with the Royal Air Force, presented a medal at the Commonwealth Games, ran in the 60 metres sprint at the Norwich Union Indoor Athletics
Rasmussen Reports president from its founding until July 2013, when he left to found the digital media company Styrk. Rasmussen founded his first polling company in 1994. That company, Rasmussen Research, was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares in 1999. Starting in 1999, Rasmussen's poll was called Portrait of America. In 2003, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Reports, based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In August 2009, the "Washington Post" reported that Rasmussen Reports had received a “major growth capital investment.” "New Jersey Business" magazine reported that the company increased the size of its staff later that year. Rasmussen Reports