Thomas is an Assistant professor at the University of Arizona since September 2017. He was born in Marseille, south of France, where he did his initial education. He graduated from CPE Lyon, an engineering school in France, with a BS and a MS degree in chemistry and chemical engineering in 2009. He received his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014, under the guidance of Profs John Arnold and Bob Bergman; and was then a post-doctoral fellow for three years at the ETH Zürich with Prof Grützmacher.

At the University of Arizona his team targets the synthesis of stable carbocations and their use as organic-based photocatalysts and organic electrolytes for redox flow batteries (RFBs). During his time at the University of Arizona, Thomas has published research articles in major outlets, filed invention disclosures and patent applications with TechLaunch Arizona, and co-founded CarbeniumTec LLC, a startup company that strives to develop a metal free battery for long duration energy storage. For his work, Thomas received the 2022 UACI Sponsored Launch scholarship Fueled by Perkins Coie LLP, the 2021 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 2021 Research Corporation for Science Advance – Cottrell Scholar Fellowship, the 2021 Thieme Chemistry Journals Award, and the 2019 American Chemical Society, Doctoral New Investigator Award. As an educator, Thomas is part of the University of Arizona Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) and KEYS Research Internship Programs, and he has developed an interdisciplinary class with the College of Law that brings together students from Science and from Law to study policy issues related to climate change, pollution, renewable energy, and more.