Bonita S. Thompson
Adjunct Faculty
Research Interests/Areas of Expertise
Collaborative Science, Organizational Performance & Leadership, Human Resources Management
Biography
Biography
Dr. Bonita Thompson is a New York Times bestselling author and HR executive whose 30-year career includes launching Genentech’s first HR function; creating the Market Analyzer for Bank of America; and at Levi Strauss, leading the team that built the world’s first corporate HR intranet self-service platform known as Eureka! She has served as Adjunct Faculty at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody School of Education in Organizational Performance & Leadership, teaching both graduate and undergraduate programs and developing curricula for high performance leadership collaboration and AI. She lectures globally through The Conference Board, Harvard’s Institute of Coaching, the International Coaching Federation, and SHRM Dubai. A certified MG-SCC and OKR coach, she has been named a Top 5 Educator in the Global Gurus (2021-2026); a Top 50 Leading Global Coach by Thinkers50 (2020, 2023, 2024), and Business Leader of the Year (2019) at the Harvard Club in New York. Born in Michigan and raised in Silicon Valley, she lives in Manhattan and Florida, and is a Golden Visa resident of the United Arab Emirates.
Publications
Dr. Thompson is a New York Times and Wall St Journal bestselling author.
ADMIRED: 21 Ways to Double Your Value, a New York Times & Wall St Journal Bestseller
Research Director—Success Built to Last: Creating a Life That Matters (Wharton School Publishing/Pearson Ed, 2006; Plume paperback 2007 was a BusinessWeek bestseller)
Education
BA, Industrial Psychology, San Jose State University
MBA, Computer Science, Haas School of Business, University of California, 1990
Ed.D., Chief Learning Officer, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2025