Dr. Linda Thompson Biography
Dr. Linda Thompson has served as the 21st President of Westfield State University since 2021. In this role, she has partnered with campus leadership to expand academic programs that meet contemporary workforce demands, forged new collaborations with regional colleges, government agencies, business leaders, and community organizations, and strengthened the University’s leadership team in support of its mission, vision, and values. Before joining Westfield State, Dr. Thompson was Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
During her presidency, Westfield State completed the extensive renovation of Parenzo Hall and opened the Research, Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurial (RIDE) Center—a state-of-the-art hub designed to prepare students for future-focused careers. She also collaborated with faculty and staff to create a Finance and Data Analytics Lab, giving students hands-on experience with real-world financial and analytical tools. In 2023, Dr. Thompson led the University’s successful accreditation review by the New England Commission of Higher Education; the next evaluation is scheduled for spring 2032.
Dr. Thompson has held numerous national and regional leadership roles, including service on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Nurse Faculty Scholars Program, the National Initiative on Children’s Health Care Quality, the Urban League, and the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. She currently serves as Chair of both the State Universities Council of Presidents and the Kurdistan Accreditation Board, and sits on the boards of the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts and Goddard House. She is also a member of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference President’s Advisory Group, a board member of Stanley Park, and a member of the Westfield Woman’s Club. In addition, she contributes to statewide workforce and education policy through the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education’s Nursing Education and Workforce Development Task Force, the Health and Human Services Workforce Advisory Committee, and the Massachusetts K–12 Statewide Graduation Council. She is also a member of the Massachusetts DRIVE (Discovery, Research, Innovation for a Vibrant Economy) Initiative.
Her scholarship includes two award-winning books—Losing Control: Loving a Black Child with Bipolar Disorder, recognized by the American Sociological Association, and Hard Times, Healing Hands, honored by EdPress—and co-editing Climate Justice and Public Health: Realities, Responses, and Re-Imaginings for a Better Future, an interdisciplinary examination of climate change, health, and inequality.
Dr. Thompson’s honors include induction into the American Academy of Nursing, Phi Kappa Alpha, and Sigma Xi; the National Black Nurses Association Trailblazer Award; selection as a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow; participation in the White House Conference on Childcare and service as a White House Delegate to Brazil. She has been recognized with the Distinguished Citizen in Education Award by Scouting America’s Western Massachusetts Council, the GlobalMindEd Inclusive Leader Award in Health and Wellness, and inclusion among the Top 100 Women Business Leaders in Massachusetts by The Women’s Edge and The Boston Globe.
Dr. Thompson holds BSN and MSN degrees from Wayne State University and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Johns Hopkins University.