Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

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Council President

President Aaron Thompson at Brescia University

Dr. Aaron Thompson

Dr. Aaron Thompson is a passionate advocate for higher education. He was born in Central Appalachia (Clay County, Kentucky) in a log cabin with a partial dirt floor to an Illiterate coal miner and sharecropper father and a mother with an eighth-grade education. Thus, Thompson is a first-generation high school and college student who worked his way through both. He experienced first-hand the transformative power of a college credential. Dr. Thompson found his passion for education and assisting others to get theirs while he was in college. As an African American who grew up during the Civil Rights area, Thompson knew he had to do his part to ensure that people of color had the opportunity to achieve a level of education that would assist them to break down the institutional barriers they may face. He received his PhD in sociology in areas of organizational behavior, race and gender inequality.  Currently as president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, where he is the head of higher education for Kentucky, he works to ensure all Kentuckians have an equal opportunity to improve their lives through postsecondary education. In fact, Kentucky was recently ranked second in the country for college completions and are closing gaps for underrepresented students faster than other states. 

Before taking the helm of CPE, Thompson served as interim president of Kentucky State University; CPE executive vice president and provost; and faculty member and administrator at Eastern Kentucky University. He has extensive leadership experience within the private and non-profit sectors and is a highly sought-after national speaker. He has given approximately 1,000 keynote speeches, workshops, seminars, etc. (nationally and internationally), mainly focused on topics of student success, gap closing, and cultural competence. He has worked with police departments, municipalities, and communities for over three decades to build a harmonious relationship. He is serving or has served on multiple national, state, and local boards where he assumed leadership roles Dr. Thompson has authored or co-authored numerous books and peer-reviewed publications on first-year experience, diversity, cultural competence, and student success. 

Dr. Thompson has received multiple recognitions and awards based on his life’s work including just being selected as the most outstanding State Higher Education Executive Officer from SHEEO, James Bryant Conant Leadership Award from Education Commission of the States, Outstanding Governance Leadership Award from Modern Healthcare, Outstanding Leadership Award in Governance from Kentucky Hospital Association, The East Kentucky Leadership Award as a Public Servant just to mention a few. He also has received Honorary Doctorates from Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, Union College of Kentucky, Brescia University, and Murray State University. One of his greatest honors is having a Foundation named in his honor, The Thompson Scholars foundation, dedicated to serve low-income and students of color from early childhood through college in Appalachia that is now serving over 200 young people and is the only non-profit in Kentucky. In addition, in 2019, he was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame and Inducted into the Junior Achievement Bluegrass Business Hall of Fame in 2025.

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Last Updated: 9/17/2025