Michael Thompson is currently the Head of Research Impact Enterprises or RIE: A Metaprising Research Impact Accelerator. RIE is the first hybrid non-profit like and academically-based business ecosystem entity that functions as a conduit and facilitator between the Academy and the Rest of Society.
RIE achieves this by working in collaboration with others to provide initiatives, services, and products that help individuals, faculty, businesses, institutions, and other organized units manage, maximize, and accelerate their impact. Click here to be provided with an overview of how RIE works.
Before becoming the Head of RIE he served on the Senior Staff of the Vice President for Research, Affiliate Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, member of the Center for Research Program Development and Enrichment (CRPDE), and the Founding Director of the Broader Impacts in Research (BIR) organization at the University of Oklahoma. BIR was formally established on December 31st, 2013. BIR served as a point of contact at the University of Oklahoma to institutionalize a Broader Impacts culture as well as gain knowledge and get help in developing, implementing, and evaluating high quality Broader Impact programs and portfolios for and beyond Agency and NSF Criterion. This was done by helping faculty and other investigators link their research, teaching, and public service to transformational outcomes that are relevant to individuals, diverse communities, and society at-large. Through the development of higher quality broader impacts, higher quality broader impacts programs, higher quality broader impacts portfolios, and BI identity, BIR was able to help many faculty be more impactful in every aspect of their professional careers.
In this position Dr. Thompson also advocated for the Scholarship of Broader Impacts (SoBI) as well as conducted research in broader impacts. Which allowed his organization to model, develop, implement, and evaluate broader impacts by coming up with answers to questions like – (1) what does broader impacts look like on a university, local, regional, global, and international scale and (2) how can you create and implement meaningful faculty professional development that helps faculty to be more impactful and successful in every aspect of their professional careers?
In 2015, Dr. Thompson served on the National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) Working Group, which developed the Broader Impacts Guiding Principles and Questions for National Science Foundation Proposals. During his tenure at OU he also mentored undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and began to work on developing a bio-related public-private partnership and workforce pathway. In this capacity he served on several bio-related and tech committees across the state, worked with public, private, and state organizations, and connected faculty with industry.
Dr. Thompson has taught Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Physical Science on-line and off-line in classrooms and developed and taught Science and Engineering Learning Community Service-Learning courses. He has taught high school Chemistry and Physics, participated on Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) education committees to develop state education science standards, spent time as a private biochemical consultant for several companies, started a few companies (cleaning, engineering, HVAC, and education), facilitated workshops on culture and diversity, and has worked with the Engineering Projects in Community Service-Learning (EPICS) University program.
He was also one of the first individuals who established the EPICS high school program where he helped to develop and write curriculum, conduct workshops, perform site-visits, develop and implement EPICS high school research agendas, and strategically develop, implement, and analyze all of the evaluation and assessment protocols and received data. The EPICS high school program is now in many states across the nation.
Michael Thompson obtained a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana. He received his MS in Biochemistry and a PhD in Chemistry from Purdue University. Dr. Thompson’s research involved manipulation of sinapoylated compounds and genetic sequences in the sinapate ester biosynthetic pathway and on Chemistry Education and aspects of Engineering Education during the completion of his PhD. Prior to joining the University of Oklahoma (OU) he was the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Institute of Environmental Health (IEH), and the NSF Science and Technology Center (STC) for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction (CMOP). During that time, he worked with industry, faculty, nonprofits, and students, connecting them at many levels and in many ways to help them complete their broader impacts.
Contact Email: info@research-impact-enterprises.com
