Ayanna Thompson is a Regents Professor of English in the Literature Department at Arizona State University and Executive Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University (2001), an M.A. in English from the University of Sussex (1995, Marshall Scholarship), and an A.B. in English magna cum laude from Columbia University (1994, Phi Beta Kappa). Her academic career began as Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico (2001-2004), followed by positions at Arizona State University as Assistant Professor (2004-2008), Associate Professor (2008-2011), Professor (2011-2013 and 2018-2021), and Professor at George Washington University (2013-2018). Thompson specializes in Shakespeare, race, and performance, with research interests in early modern literature, premodern critical race studies, Renaissance drama, gender, race, ethnicity, politics, and theatre. She created the RaceB4Race symposium series and co-edits the RaceB4Race book series with the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Thompson's key publications include books such as Blackface (Bloomsbury, 2021), Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars (Bloomsbury Arden, 2018), Teaching Shakespeare with Purpose (co-authored with Laura Turchi, Bloomsbury Arden, 2016), Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, and Contemporary America (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Performing Race and Torture on the Early Modern Stage (Routledge, 2008). She edited The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (Routledge, 2006), and Weyward Macbeth (co-edited with Scott Newstok, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), and revised the Arden3 Othello (Bloomsbury, 2016). Her honors include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2021) and British Academy (2025), Sidney Hook Memorial Award (Phi Beta Kappa, 2024), Samuel H. Scripps Award (2023), Regents Professor designation (2021), and president of the Shakespeare Association of America (2018-19). She serves as Associate Scholar at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Scholar-in-Residence at The Public Theater, dramaturg for Broadway productions including Romeo and Juliet and Suffs, and on boards for Theatre for a New Audience and Play On Shakespeare. Thompson's scholarship influences theater practices, pedagogy, and academic discourse on race in performance and early modern studies.

Professional Email: ayanna.thompson@asu.edu