Prof. Mark E. Thompson

Prof. Mark E. Thompson (Ph.D. California Institute of Technology) is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Southern California.  Prof. Thompson received his B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1980 (U.C. Berkeley) and his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1985 (California Institute of Technology).  He spent 2 years as a Science and Engineering Research Council (S.E.R.C.) fellow in the Inorganic Chemistry laboratory at Oxford University.  Prof. Thompson took a position in the chemistry department at Princeton University in 1987, as an assistant professor.  In 1995, Prof. Thompson moved his research team to the University of Southern California, where he is currently a Professor of Chemistry. He was given a joint appointment in the Department of Materials Science at USC in 1999 and served as the Chemistry Department Chair between 2005 and 2008.  He is currently the Ray R. Irani Chair of Chemistry and was appointed in February of 2023 as a USC University Professor, an award given only to a small number of professors who, because of their multi-disciplinary interests and significant accomplishments in several disciplines, qualify for an appointment that transcends any single field of study. Recently, he received the 2026 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award. His research program involves the study of new materials and devices for electroluminescence, solar energy conversion, chemical/biological sensing and catalysis. Prof. Thompson is the author of approximately 400 papers in refereed professional journals and holds more than 250 patents primarily in the areas of molecular and polymeric materials for optoelectronic applications, organic thin film devices, and heterogeneous catalysis.

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ORCID: 0000-0002-7764-4096

Scopus Author ID: 7404620831

ResearcherID: F-4062-2018

He is the recipient of many awards, including:

• Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award recipient, 2026
• National Academy Member, National Academy of Engineering, 2020 –
• USC Endowed Chair, Ray R. Irani, Chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Chair in Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, 07/01/2015 – 06/30/2020
• Ramabrahmam and Balamani Guthikonda Lecturer, Columbia University, Fall 2017
• IEEE Nichizawa Medal, Spring 2017
• IEEE Photonics Award, Spring 2016
• American Chemical Society Award in Chemistry of Materials, 2014-2015
• Inducted into the National Academy of Inventors, 2014-2015
• Richard C. Tolman Award, Presented by the Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society, 2014-2015
• USC Mellon Mentoring Award, 2014-2015
• Xing Da Lectureship, Peking University, 2014-2015
• American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, Fellow, 2013-2014
• Ernest H. Swift lectureship, Caltech, 2013-2014
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship Recipient, Humboldt Research Award, Spring 2012
• Ranked 12th of the top 100 chemists worldwide for their citation impact scores for chemistry papers published since January 2000, 02/11/2011
• USC Associates Award For Creativity In Research And Scholarship, Spring 2007
• MRS Medal, Materials Research Society, 11/2006
• Jan Rajchman Prize for Outstanding Research in Flat Panel Displays, Society for Information Displays, 06/2006
• USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, Fall 2004
• Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award, presented by the Research and Development Council of New Jersey, 11/1998
• Distinguished Inventor of the Year, awarded by The Intellectual Property Owners Association, 03/199