Ayodele Thomas (Lecturer)

Personal bio
Ayodele Thomas received her Bachelor's of Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1996 and received her MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2000 and 2005 respectively, focusing on polymorphic computer architectures. After completing her doctorate, she decided to work on diversifying the graduate school pipeline and retaining the diversity represented in the current student body in addition to supporting the overall graduate student population. As a long-time member of the Stanford community, Dr. Thomas has held several leadership positions advancing equity and inclusion. She previously served as Associate Vice Provost for IDEAL Advancement (2024-2025), and the inaugural Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in University Human Resources (2021-2024), where she led efforts to improve equity and inclusion for staff. Prior to that role, she spent four years as Associate Dean for Graduate & Career Education and Diversity in the Stanford University School of Medicine, overseeing academic student affairs for doctoral and master's students through an explicit lens of equity and inclusion. She also served for 12 years in the Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences as Assistant Dean for Diversity Programs, Data and Technology. She has taught seminar entitled Graduate Environment of Support since 2005. The seminar assists graduate students adapting to the Stanford environment in terms of academic, psychosocial, financial, and career issues.

Currently teaching