Michael Thompson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Computer Science
563.588.7570 | Michael.Thompson@loras.edu
Full Profile
Loras College, 2007
B.A., Central College, 1998
M.S., University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2003
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2007
After growing up in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Dr. Michael Thompson attended Central College in Pella, Iowa where he graduated with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science as well as a minor in Philosophy. After graduating, he worked as a programmer for Advanced Technologies Group, Inc. in West Des Moines, Iowa.
He then attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received his Ph.D. in Computer Sciences, with an emphasis on Optimization. While there, Dr. Thompson researched methods of finding the minimum of a nonconvex function, with applications in protein-ligand docking. His current research interests include applications in Artificial Intelligence using Support Vector Machines and other techniques relating to business analytics, specifically in how they relate to sports.