Ewa M. Thompson is professor Emerita of Slavic Studies and  the author of  Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism (2000). Donald Fanger, Harry Levin Research Professor of Literature at Harvard University, described the book as follows:  "A pioneering book--vigorous, provocative, broadly informed and crisply written. Not to be ignored by anyone concerned with Russian culture.” 

Thompson came to Rice in 1970 and retired in 2008. Among her other books is Understanding Russia: The Holy Fool in Russian Culture (1987). Thompson has continued scholarly work after retiring from teaching: her most recent article came out in July 2026 in: “Non-Germanic Central Europe: key to European stability or periphery of empires.”