He studied at Harvard University from 1912 to 1914, earning his Ph.D. Thompson was English instructor teaching composition at the University of Texas, Austin from 1914 to 1918, and in 1921, appointed associate professorship in theEnglish Department of the Indiana University (Bloomington).
He studied at Harvard University from 1912 to 1914 under George Lyman Kitteridge, writing the dissertation "European Borrowings and Parallels in North American Indian Tales," and earning his Ph.D. (The revised thesis was later published in 1919). In 1921, he was appointed associate professorship in theEnglish Department of the Indiana University (Bloomington).