Since coming to Occidental 17 years ago, Professor Kerry Thompson has served in myriad roles at the college, including as professor of Biology, chair of the Biology department and interim dean and vice president for Academic Affairs. Thompson said he is also beginning his second year as Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) to the athletic department.
According to Shanda Ness, Occidental’s Athletic Director, the FAR is a required role within the athletic department that promotes student-athlete success in the classroom, in athletics and in the community. Ness said that the FAR role also oversees the nominations of student-athletes for NCAA grants, scholarships and recognition programs.
“[Thompson] serves as an independent advocate for student athletes [and] assists in the oversight of intercollegiate athletics at the campus and conference levels to assure that they are conducted in a manner designed to protect and enhance the physical, psychological and educational well-being of student-athletes,” Ness said.
According to Thompson, all tenure-track faculty members are assigned community service by the faculty council, and serving as the FAR fulfills this required commitment. Although Thompson played tennis at UCLA, he said his athletic background did not impact the faculty council’s choice in assigning him the FAR role. According to Thompson, the FAR’s most vital role is to define a plan of success with students if athletes fall into academic trouble and to help them re-enter their team.
“There are times when student athletes get into academic trouble and are no longer eligible to play on the team because of certain rules and requirements,” Thompson said. “For example, there are students who might want to apply for conditional eligibility even though they’re not academically [eligible].”
According to Thompson, his neurobiology research has influenced the way he approaches his role as the FAR. Thompson said that his research focuses on how childhood epilepsy causes brain damage.
“Neurobiology governs basically all I do,” Thompson said. “The brain is a malleable, changing thing and … the populations I commonly deal with in my job here are still being shaped and sculpted.”
Thompson said that his research focuses on trying to develop alternative forms of therapy for people who shouldn’t be treated with brain surgery or drugs — typical epilepsy treatments.
Josh Hamlett (sophomore), an athlete on Occidental’s men’s soccer team who is deciding between majoring in biology or biochemistry, worked in Thompson’s lab over the summer studying cell death and cell fusion.
“I loved it, it was a really great time,” Hamlett said. “I really enjoyed the experiments we were doing. [Thompson] gave me a set of projects and then we found which one I had a high affinity for.”
Hamlett said that Thompson has been like an adviser to him.
“I spent a lot of time with [Thompson] over the summer and we would talk about different strategies to manage the workload and different potential future options and what future options could potentially get me into research,” Hamlett said. “It helped a lot to have someone who’s seen my archetype before.”
According to Hamlett, Thompson has also helped advise him as a Black scientist.
“He’s given me a lot of advice not just about how to manage my schoolwork, but how to be in spaces as a Black scientist,” Hamlett said. “A lot of the time, people instantly don’t respect you or think that they know a little bit more than you.”
Thompson said he’s had many athletes work in his lab.
“I’ve had almost entire teams working in my lab,” Thompson said. “[Student-athletes] bring with them an ethic and an ethos and a collaborative nature that can’t be replaced.”
Thompson said that having served as interim dean and department chair has helped him as the FAR.
“Understanding the system of the college [and] the workings of the college helps quite a bit,” Thompson said. “Having played those roles gives me insight into decision-making.”
Thompson said that the thing he loves about his job is working with students.
“That’s what matters to me,” he said. “[I hope to] continue to do good work.”
