Denise D. P. Thompson, PhD is Deputy Chair for Assessment and an associate professor in the Public Management Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. She brings more than a decade of accreditation experience to her recent appointment to NASPAA’s Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA), following extended service as a Site Visitor and as co-chair of her college’s assessment committee. She also co-chairs NASPAA’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Section and serves on the boards of the American Society for Public Administration’s Sections on Public Administration Education, African Public Administration, and Emergency and Crisis Management. Dr. Thompson previously directed the MPA Inspection and Oversight program and holds research appointments with RaCERS and the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies.
Dr. Thompson’s research examines the intersections of disaster risk management, resilience, sustainable development, logistics, and humanitarian supply chains, with particular attention to the Global South. Her work investigates how institutional and structural arrangements and systems shape the lived experiences of marginalized populations, generating insights that inform more inclusive, contextually grounded policy and practice. Through this scholarship, she highlights the contributions and perspectives of communities often overlooked in development planning, disaster governance, and decision-making, advancing approaches that promote equity, participation, and well-being.
She contributes her expertise to several editorial and professional boards, including the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Disaster Prevention and Resilience, and the Crisis Response Journal. She also serves as a reviewer for several journals, including PAR.
