Business Major with Love of Art is Named Valedictorian
 at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus
- Chris Thompson, JPMorgan Chase’s Smart Start Scholarship winner -

Brooklyn, N.Y. - The son of Jamaican-British immigrants, Christopher D. Thompson was raised with a deep respect for knowledge and learning. “My family always stressed the importance of education,” says the 21-year-old Crown Heights resident. “They said that once you have an education, no one can take it away from you.” Living up to his family’s values, Thompson is about to graduate as the valedictorian of his class at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus commencement ceremonies.

On a full scholarship, Thompson will finish his undergraduate career with a double major in accounting and finance, a minor in visual arts and a 3.95 grade point average. He was chosen to represent his class of 723 not only for his academic successes but also for his diverse achievements and for his service to the community, qualities that epitomize a Brooklyn Campus education. Commencement will take place on May 11, starting at 10:15 a.m. in the Campus’s downtown Brooklyn athletic field.

“We strive to produce exceptional individuals of integrity who will use their education and skills to give back to their community, and Christopher is a marvelous example of that ideal,” says Gale Stevens Haynes, Campus provost.

Thompson has already put his accounting skills to good use by preparing scores of tax returns for low-income taxpayers and coordinating other specially trained accounting students through the free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at the Brooklyn Campus. He is vice president of the Campus Accounting Society.

Further, he helps install computers and Internet access in the homes of Brooklyn families with limited resources through an innovative program of JPMorgan Chase, the bank’s effort to provide new computers to junior high school students for home use. As part of his involvement at his School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences, he meets with local high school students to tell them they too can succeed in the business world

“I’m compelled to do it because I’ve had supportive people in my life,” he says. “None of this would have happened without my family, my teachers. I’ve had a lot of inspiration from home, work and school.”

Thompson attended Automotive High School in Brooklyn, where his academic potential was recognized by a pair of dedicated teachers, who encouraged his interest in math and business. “They saw something in me that I didn’t,” he says. At the Brooklyn Campus, too, Thompson has received support from professors who have fostered his diverse talents, including in his art classes, through which he has developed a portfolio of colorful drawings and detailed calligraphic works. “Art is more relaxing than the number crunching in business,” he says. “It has a calming effect like meditation and it’s stress-free.”

Thompson has also drawn sustenance from his connection with JPMorgan Chase, where he will start work as a financial analyst upon graduation. For the past four years, he has worked part-time during the academic school year and full-time during the summer, gaining formal corporate training while attending school. He won the bank’s prestigious Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start full-tuition four-year scholarship - he was one of twenty selected out of thousands that apply. Thompson is thankful for the scholarship because it allowed him to explore different subjects, especially the liberal arts, without financial worry.

Thompson’s main source of inspiration is his close-knit family, who instilled in him the value of education. Originally from Jamaica, his grandparents moved to Britain, where his parents were born and raised. The family then immigrated to the United States in pursuit of the American dream. Sadly, his mother, Leonie, was forced to drop out of college, after his father died in an accident, to work as a nurse’s aide. 

“My family sacrificed a lot for me, but I’m on the right path to success,” Thompson says. “Through me, their dream will live on.”

Editors please note: Photograph of Chris Thompson is available.

Long Island University opened its Brooklyn Campus in 1926, welcoming a diverse population at a time when other major universities enforced quota systems against racial and ethnic minorities. More than 13,000 students are enrolled at the Brooklyn Campus. Located at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, the Campus is accessible to all major bus and subway routes and the Long Island Rail Road.