Dr. Donovan Thompson obtained a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Florida and his Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Georgia Southern University. He holds an Innovation Leadership Certificate from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and a Project Management Professional (P.M.P) certification from Project Management Institute. Dr. Thompson has over 20+ publications and scientific presentations; patents and (patent applications); and 3 commercial products. He is an author of the book called: The Periodik Change in Me= U! Some of his awards include Colgate-Palmolive Award; SMART Science Award; Agape Family Church (NJ) “2016 Men Who Rock” Award; AkzoNobel 2017 Early Career Scientist Award; Georgia Southern University 40 under 40 Class of 2018; 2019 Kappa Alpha Psi President’s and 2020 Mentorship Service Awards, Albemarle Corporation 2021 Global New technology Award; Albemarle Corporation Mosaic Leadership Award, and University of Florida 40 under 40 Class of 2024. Relevant experiences are: developing chemistries from the bench-scale to pilot- to manufacturing level with the use of a stage-gate methodology; implementing an “open-innovation” platform to generate new ideas for novel intellectual property and new collaborations; championing the project management (PM) training for the technical community which boosted PM efforts; creating and fostering industry based internships and collaborations to support application research projects with academic institutions; and creating business value with new products and processes. He spent years in the chemical industry with his most recent experience as a Sr. Research Technology Manager at Albemarle Corporation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Currently, he is the Executive Director & Dean of the Energy Sciences Division and Future Energy Consortium at River Parishes Community College (located in Louisiana covering 4 campuses). His focus is on the continual needs analyses that drive collaboration between the industry needs and the academic curriculum for credit, non-credit, and customized training technical programs. Growing this effort like a “chemical start-up company” with academic alignment of graduate completers will be to address the future energy direction to meet the needs of CO2 emission reduction by 2050, and more sustainable energy approaches for the industrial corridor of the river region.