She attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina on a full-merit scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and African-American Studies. Professor Thompson then matriculated to Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina as a Duke Law merit scholarship recipient and graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree. Selected as a Lord Rothermere Scholar, Professor Thompson studied at Oxford University in Oxford, England with a concentration: Law and Liability – Comparative Study of Personal Injury Law in Britain and the United States.