Dr. Sherwood Thompson - Biography

Since coming to the Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), Dr. Sherwood Thompson has been involved in advancing the educational opportunities of young scholars from rural sections of the state.  Throughout his career in higher education, he has demonstrated a consistent and strong commitment to educational outreach, community partnership, and diversity.  Dr. Thompson is the Chairperson for the EKU College of Education Diversity Advisory Council, an educational governing body that exists to direct efforts to coordinate, initiate and design programs to increase the participation and involvement of ethnic, gender and underrepresented populations within the College of Education. 

Dr. Thompson has attained distinction through his work with ethnic minority learners on college campuses. He has directed campus-wide diversity programs for more than twenty years as a professional higher education administrator and educator at three major Carnegie Foundation Divisions-I Public Research Universities. His pioneer work incorporating innovative approaches and using critical success factors for establishing institutional diversity and multicultural services on predominately white campuses is a model gaining popularity among equity administrators. His academic and leadership experience has provided him with a rich understanding of the issues confronting higher education and community partnership programs.  

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of South Carolina, Spartanburg; Master of Education and Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.  He was awarded two faculty fellowships from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He is the recipient the Mid-Level Professional Training Certificate from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators early in his career. Dr. Thompson has held faculty appointments as Adjunct Assistant Professor and Adjunct Graduate Faculty at the University of Kansas in the School of Education in the Department of Counseling and Psychology and Educational Leadership. In addition, Dr. Thompson was appointed by the Governor of Kansas to serve a three-year term as an African-American Advisory Commissioner. He served in that capacity as an education specialist until relocating to the University of Georgia to accept an appointment as head of the Minority Programs and Services Office and the African American Cultural Center.