Rate My Professor Lizabeth Thompson

Dr. Lizabeth Thompson is the Director of General Engineering and a professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, an MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering and an MBA from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Over her 30-year tenure at Cal Poly, Thompson has served in numerous leadership roles, including Acting Department Chair of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and Materials Engineering, Co-Director of Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies, Director of Women’s Engineering Programs, and Interim Associate Dean in the College of Engineering. She has taught more than 25 courses, including Financial Decision Making, First-Year Engineering, Senior Project, and Change Management. In 2019-2020, she taught and conducted research on equity and social justice at California State University, Los Angeles. Thompson co-advises student organizations such as Engineers Without Borders, Critical Global Engagement, and oSTEM, fostering global engagement, sustainable development, and support for LGBTQ+ students in STEM.

Thompson's research interests encompass equitable classroom practices, critical reflective dialog, institutional change, social-technical integration, and change management. As principal investigator or co-principal investigator, she has secured $11.8 million in National Science Foundation funding for initiatives including Eco-STEM, which promotes equity and social justice in STEM; ENGAGE, a mentorship program supporting underrepresented transfer students, particularly Hispanic and Latino students, from community colleges like Allan Hancock and Cuesta; KIND, a CSU-wide equity project; Breaking the Binary with the Computer Engineering department; and I-Corps for student entrepreneurship. Since 2011, she has obtained nearly $10 million in NSF grants focused on diversity and inclusion in engineering education. Her contributions have earned her the Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award and Cal Poly’s Provost's Leadership Award for Partnership in Philanthropy, recognizing her work in donor engagement and transformative student opportunities. Thompson emphasizes ethical engineering design that considers community impacts, environmental sustainability, and inclusivity, aligning with Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy.