Jacob Thompson is UNLV's Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and High-Impact Practices in Academic Affairs. He oversees a variety of university units and initiatives, including: Career Services and Workforce Development; the Office of Undergraduate Research; UNLV Lifelong Learning; Math Placement and Summer Math Bridge; Undergraduate Curriculum; General Education; Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Degree Programs; and Microcredentials. 

From 2007 to 2022, Thompson was a faculty member in UNLV’s Department of Communication Studies, where he also served as the associate department chair and undergraduate coordinator from 2020 to 2022. His work in undergraduate curriculum and general education began in 2012 with his appointment to the Faculty Senate General Education Committee. He served as a committee member for five years and as chair from 2017 to 2021. From 2022 to 2023, he served as UNLV's Director of General Education and Undergraduate Curriculum. 

During his tenure in Communication Studies, Thompson also served as the head coach and director of UNLV’s nationally recognized and award-winning debate team, ranked among the best in the nation for several consecutive years. He received the George Ziegelmueller Coach of the Year Award in 2018 and was recognized as the Ross K. Smith National Debate Coach of the Year in 2020. In addition, he played an integral role in the 2016 third presidential debate hosted at UNLV, serving on multiple university committees, supporting debate-related programming, and participating in more than 100 media interviews as a university expert.

Thompson's academic research focuses on presidential and political campaign debates, persuasion, argumentation theory and practice, and the rhetoric of American foreign policy. He continues to teach occasionally in UNLV's general education curriculum.