The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom have always been in the minority… It will take such a small committed minority to work unrelentingly to win the uncommitted majority. Such a group may transform America’s greatest dilemma into her most glorious opportunity.
Background
J. Phillip Thompson is an urban planner and political scientist. He received a BA in sociology from Harvard University in 1977, an MUP from Hunter College in 1986, and a PhD in political science from the City University of New York Graduate Center in 1990.
Interests
Thompson’s academic interests lie in urban planning, public policy, housing, community and economic development. He has taught at Columbia, Barnard, Yale University and CUNY and is a senior policy advisor to PolicyLink, a think tank that links research and policy development with a network of 150 community organizations. Thompson worked as deputy general manager of the New York Housing Authority, and as director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Coordination. He is a frequent advisor to trade unions in their efforts to work with immigrant and community groups across the United States.
News Items
MLK Visiting Professors welcomed
Five new Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Professors have joined two holdovers on campus for the fall semester.
MLK professors and scholars named
The two new MLK Visiting Professors are both MIT alumni, and will be joined by two MLK Visiting Scholars.
Sample Work
Publication
Social capital and poor communities
Saegert, Susan, J. Phillip Thompson, and Mark R. Warren, eds. Social capital and poor communities. Russell Sage Foundation, 2002.
Publication
The role of social capital in combating poverty
Warren, Mark R., J. Phillip Thompson, and Susan Saegert. “The role of social capital in combating poverty.” Social capital and poor communities 3 (2001): 1-28.
Publication
Making Social Capital Work: Social Capital and Community Economic Development
Gittell, Ross, and J. Phillip Thompson. “Making Social Capital Work: Social Capital and Community Economic Development.” (2001).
Publication
Inner-city business development and entrepreneurship: New frontiers for policy and research
Gittell, Ross, and J. Phillip Thompson. “Inner-city business development and entrepreneurship: New frontiers for policy and research.” Urban problems and community development (1999): 473-520.