Maria Thompson, Ph.D. serves as Vice President of Research and Sponsored Programs at Tennessee State University where she oversees $40 million in externally funded projects annually. She is principal investigator for more than $1million dollars of grant-funded projects.

Thompson began her career in higher education at the University of Kentucky, where she served as assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design, Merchandising and Textiles within the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Thompson received a Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee State University and a Master of Science degree from the Ohio State University. She received her doctorate in textile science and textile economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1994. She completed the National Council of University Research Administrators Leadership Development Institute in 2005.

In January 2010, Thompson founded the Capital City Research Consortium (CCRC), an organization established to foster economic and academic growth in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to create and promote long-term economic development and job creation. Members of the CCRC include Tennessee State University, serving as the lead institution, and five other universities located in Nashville, TN.