Speakers

Deborah M. Thompson, Ph.D. is Director of Research Partnerships for North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. Deborah works as a key liaison between university faculty and industry scientists. She develops and manages corporate partnerships among CALS faculty and corporations around the world, with an emphasis on North Carolina and the Research Triangle Park (RTP) area matching college assets to the needs of industry. Deborah has a background in agricultural biotechnology and plant gene expression. Deborah received her B.S. degree in Biology from Rutgers University and her Ph.D. degree in Molecular and Population Genetics from the University of Georgia at Athens. Deborah has worked in academia, industry (from startups to multinational companies), government and not for profit institutions.