Founder of WCU's construction management program takes post at Indiana State University

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Bradford Sims has been named dean of the College of Technology at Indiana State University, effective Aug. 1.

Since 1990, Sims has worked in the construction industry or in support of the field, both in the United States and abroad. He is currently professor and chair of the construction management department in the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology at Western Carolina University.

“With experience in industry as well as higher education, and given his experience in securing outside funding, Brad Sims is well suited to guide the ISU College of Technology at this point in its 41-year history,” C. Jack Maynard, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said in announcing Sims’ appointment. “He understands the real world and the value of experiential learning and community engagement.”

The position is a homecoming of sorts for Sims, an Indiana native and a 1985 graduate of Lowell High School who holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. from Purdue University.

“I am very exciting about moving back to Indiana and being part of the Indiana State University team,” he said. “I see a great many possibilities for the future of the College of Technology in working with the supportive faculty and staff that will enhance the community, state, and nation.”

Sims founded Western Carolina’s construction management undergraduate program in 2002 and oversaw its growth to 400 students by 2007. Along the way, he established an online master of construction management program in 2005. That same year, he was instrumental in securing a $10.5 million endowment from Kimmel and Associates of Asheville, N.C., a leading construction industry executive search company, and company founder Joe Kimmel. The endowment is the largest gift in Western Carolina’s history.