Tim Thompson, PhD

Dr. Timothy Neal Thompson is Professor of Strategic Communication in the Business, Economics & Communication Department at Penn West—Edinboro.  He earned his PhD in Communication from Bowling Green State University in 1986, where he focused on organizational communication and innovation.

Prior to joining Edinboro University in 1990, Tim taught at Central Michigan University and did a one-year visiting professorship at Kent State University. At Edinboro, he teaches courses in Organizational Communication, Personal Selling, Conflict Management, Event Planning, Consulting, Persuasion, Advertising, Public Speaking, and Business & Professional Communication. His graduate and undergraduate classes created the Edinboro Highland Games & Scottish Festival in 1992, and he directed the festival for 30 years. He advises the university’s Disc Golf Club and is the coordinator of Penn West University’s Scotland Study Abroad Program, taking groups to Scotland every two years. He teaches, writes, and consults on communication, creativity, and conflict management.

In recent years he published Making Your Mind: Communication & Social Influence (2015), and Communication, Organization, Adaptation: Mindfulness in Organizing (2018), and is currently working on a book about Conflict Management. He was recognized as the Faculty Member of the Year at Edinboro University in 2018. Consultancies include planning and facilitating student and faculty retreats for the Rochester Institute of Technology on several occasions; conducting workshops on exercising creativity at the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry; conducting management and leadership training for Meadville Medical Center, GECAC, and Meadville Forge; and facilitating strategic planning for various groups. He enjoys disc golf, travel, hiking, and painting. Tim and his wife Dee Dee live in Edinboro where they raised five children.