He was the first African-American graduate of the University of Southern California Law School, known for his work on scientific management.
At the age of 8 his parents got divorced, and he moved with his mother, the daughter of an escaped slave, to Los Angeles.
"[3] After graduation in 1900 Thompson in Los Angeles joined an independent liberal congregation, called The Fellowship, where he became assistant minister in 1905.
[2] In 1908 he resigned from the Unitarian Church, and started working at the Boston Chamber of Commerce, where he was introduced by Edward Filene.
In 1940 Thompson put an end to his business career, and started to study biochemistry at Harvard and Berkeley.