About President Bradfield

Dr. Bradfield has proven himself an outstanding Christ-centered leader with a passion for community strength, education and academic excellence.

Dr. Bradfield is a graduate of Dakota State College (SD) and holds a master's degree in educational psychology and counseling and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of South Dakota. In completion of his Doctor of Education degree, Dr. Bradfield was awarded the Dr. H. C. Rustad Memorial Award recognizing the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year. Prior to moving into higher education, he held various instructional and leadership roles in public and private K-12 education. During that time in his career, he also served as an adjunct instructor for the graduate educational administration program at the University of South Dakota, teaching in the areas of school law, professional and ethical leadership, and curriculum and instruction.

In his various leadership capacities while serving at USF, Dr. Bradfield has had literally every operational unit of the institution under his purview at one time or another. Currently, he has direct oversight of all academic programs and related services. Besides this core role, he also oversees library services, the office of the registrar, admissions and enrollment management, financial aid, marketing and information technology. He has directly led or contributed to several major University initiatives including implementation of a Title III grant in the amount of $2 million dollars that served as seed funding for a new nursing program started at the University in 2007. Bradfield also served as a major contributor in implementing a Violence Against Women grant leading to important funding for programming focused on promoting safe and orderly environments for students. In his capacity as University of Sioux Falls Provost, Bradfield has raised in excess of $13 million dollars in cash or in-kind donations supporting academic and co-curricular programming.

Dr. Bradfield has directly administered, provided administrative advocacy and leadership, and/or directly created 17 new academic programs for the University, including leadership in securing of its first fully online degree programs. He has provided the executive leadership in regard to meeting the growing complexity and demands of compliance and reaccreditation. This has included primary leadership in strategic planning, program assessment at all levels and resource allocation in response to the challenging and evolving times for higher education across the nation. Bradfield became leading voice in the institution's transition to NCAA Division II status as a means of positioning the University in the competitive higher education marketplace of the region. In this capacity, he provided leadership and administrative advocacy to re-design scholarship distribution models and create a new, more robust admissions model. He also provided the direct leadership for a three-year residential and campus life study focused on facility and grounds needs to appropriately support students and the University's operations.

Bradfield's higher education membership includes the Council of Independent Colleges. He has in the past, or currently serves, on a number of boards and committees for the community and region including the Sioux Falls School District Curriculum Council, Chairman of the Board for Kilian Community College, Chairman of the Board for the Tri-State Graduate Center (Sioux City, IA), member of the Indoor Aquatic Center at Spellerberg Park Advisory Team, former Chair of the University of Sioux Falls/Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center Consortium for Emergency Medical Technicians, a USUCCEED Committee member for promoting access to higher education in the community, and board member for the Huether Family Match Pointe indoor tennis facility. Dr. Bradfield has also presented for various events and professional organizations. Additionally, he serves as a volunteer teacher for the Junior Achievement ethics class taught at local high schools, and has served in the past as a North Central Association Evaluator for high schools in South Dakota. Dr. Bradfield was recently selected for participation in a prestigious Executive Leadership Academy held in Washington, D.C., conducted under the auspices of the American Academic Leadership Academy (AALI) in conjunction with the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC).

Dr. Bradfield's wife, Jane, is a teacher of Business and related disciplines at O'Gorman High School. Together, they have 4 adult-age children, Brittany, Brooke, Blake, and Braden. Over recent years, they have observed their family grow, welcoming sons-in-law Josh Childress (Brittany) and Lane Mellegaard (Brooke), in addition to seven grandchildren, Creighton, Kate, Isaiah, Meile, Berklie, Kase and Clara, who range in age from one to nine years old.