Dr. Thompson received his BS from West Point in 1976 and MD from Tulane University in 1980. After a Residency in Urology in San Antonio and a fellowship in Urologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, he served as Chief of Urology and Chair of Surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center until retiring from the Army in 2000. He was the founding Chair of the Department of Urology and subsequently Director of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center. On his retirement from UT in 2017, he was appointed President of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Medical Center Hospital and Vice President of Oncology for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa. In November, 2021, he was appointed President and Chief Development Officer of the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Foundation and the Friends of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Foundation. He currently practices Urology and Urologic Oncology in collaboration with Ian M Thompson, III MD. He led the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Dr. Thompson has published over 720 scientific papers which have been cited over 37,000 times in more than 27,000 peer-reviewed papers. His h-index, a measure of the impact of his scientific contributions is 94. He served as Chair of the Early Detection Research Network of the National Cancer Institute, and Chairs the Genitourinary Cancer Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group. He previously served as Chair of the Urology Residency Review Committee of Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education, President of the Society of Urologic Oncology, and President of the American Board of Urology. After serving on Subcommittee A (Cancer Centers) of the National Cancer Institute, he was appointed to the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute in 2016. He served on Board of the South Texas American Cancer Society. He has served as Principal Investigator of many pivotal, phase 3 clinical trials including SABOR, S8794, SELECT, and PCPT.
He has received many national and international awards including the Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Urological Association, the Legion of Merit from the Department of Defense, Presidential Citation from the American Urological Association, the Charles Huggins Medal from the Society of Urologic Oncology, the Hugh Hampton Young Award from the American Urological Association, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is an Honorary Member of the American Urological Association, the Canadian Urological Association, and the Mexican Urological Association. He has been awarded the American Urological Association’s highest award, the Ramon Guiteras Award for 2021.
Dr. Thompson retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Army, having served as Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center. He served in Saudi Arabia and Iraq as a General Surgeon in the 41st Combat Support Hospital during Operation Desert Storm/Shield in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait. He is married to Donna D. Thompson, PhD and they have two children: Laura D. Thompson, DNP and Ian M. Thompson, III, MD, MBA. and two granddaughters: Charlotte and Catherine (Cate).