November 11, 2002
NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Jim Bradford, clinical faculty member and former president and chief executive officer of United Glass Corporation, has been named associate dean for corporate relations at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
In his new role at the Owen School, Bradford will be responsible for building corporate relations, assisting students in their search for internships and full-time employment and working within the larger University community to solicit corporate donations that will support the many initiatives of the Owen School.
“Our relationships with our corporate customers are critical to our success,” said Bill Christie, dean of the Owen School. “Jim brings to this role knowledge of the academic mission of the school combined with firsthand experience in industry. In addition, he can command a classroom as easily as he commands a boardroom.
“As a member of our clinical faculty, he understands our culture and values. He has, on his own initiative, begun building the bridges to industry and external constituents that are vital to a vibrant and strategically focused business school. I am confident that this appointment will have a transformational impact on our exposure in corporate America and our relationships with current and future employers,” Christie added.
Bradford will continue to teach the Strategic Management and Strategy Application and Competitive Analysis courses to full-time MBA students.
Before joining the Owen School faculty this year, Bradford was president and CEO of United Glass Corporation, a consolidation of domestic glass fabricators in the United States and Canada. Prior to that, he was vice president and general counsel and, later, president and CEO of AFG Industries, North America’s largest vertically integrated glass manufacturing and fabrication company. He also practiced law for 11 years with Hunter, Smith and Davis in Kingsport, Tenn. Bradford earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School. He completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1997.
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Contact: Susanne Loftis, 615-322-NEWS, susanne.loftis@vanderbilt.edu