Donovan Thompson

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 has spent close to 10 years in the chemical industry with his most recent experience as a Sr. Research Technology Manager at Albemarle Corporation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

During his time in the chemicals industry, his major accomplishments were: leading the commercialization efforts of New Products in Personal Care, Food Safety, and Oilfield businesses; creation of a “Play-to-Win” strategy for entering new related oil/gas markets which yielded multifunctional product attributes; was the Albemarle Foundation Director for the Baton Rouge, LA region which led to influencing Albemarle to adopt a more focused recruiting approach by attending minority-based STEM conferences and Historically Black College and Universities (H.B.C.U.) career fairs which grew the DE&I initiatives and the continuous improvement of increasing charitable dollars by the employee-base to support local community initiatives.

Currently, he is the Executive Director & Dean of the Energy Sciences Division and Future Energy Consortium at River Parishes Community College (located in South 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. As the Executive Director of the Future of Energy Workforce Consortium, the primary focus is working with the consortium partners to envision, plan, and grow energy-specific workforce development initiatives; related technical training and development programs and services that are responsive to corporate partners and clients associated with the energy and manufacturing sectors. 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. All this ties well with his goal to make Louisiana and River Parish Community College a Center of Excellence for Clean Energy.

Outside of that, he travels to speak to collegiate and non-profit organizations on STEM careers and initiatives such as University of Florida, Georgia Southern University, and Savannah State University chemistry departments; along with being a mentor for the Kappa Leadership League under the umbrella of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated. He is a Board Member for a local non-profit organization: You Aren’t Alone Project where its focus is on mental health initiatives for the capital city of Louisiana, and he fosters strategy development and new supporting alliances. He is an active alumnus and a Board Member of the Chemistry Leadership Board (CLB) of the University of Florida where he supports being an advocate for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and participate in the department’s financial and partnership growth efforts. .

Leadership/ training: • Project leadership training and certifications: Cadence Project Management, P.M.P (Project Management Professional), and AkzoNobel Leadership Training • Executive Program Management Training: Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management • AIM New Product Development Business-to- Business Blueprinting Certification • Open Innovation Ideation Platform Management and Implementation • Stage-Gate Methodology Champion and Project leadership Facilitation training to the Research & Development community • People management: Team, individual contributor, and interns