John Bradford named Vice President for Industry Partnerships at Colorado School of Mines

Colorado School of Mines has appointed John Bradford as Vice President for Industry Partnerships, a new role created to further strengthen Mines’ position as the preferred university partner for industry. 

Bradford previously served as Vice President for Global Initiatives at Mines, where he has led efforts since 2020 to build strategic partnerships with industry, government and international institutions. In the new role, Bradford will focus on Mines’ industry engagement ecosystem, identifying opportunities for more comprehensive partnerships and ensuring that industry insights are translated into academic programs, research, career pathways and new models of collaboration. 

“Industry partnership is not new to Mines — it is part of our DNA,” said Paul C. Johnson, president of Colorado School of Mines. “We were established in the 1870s to support the mining industry, and that theme of being industry-connected has been a constant for the past 152 years. You can see that in the expansion and evolution of our programs and expertise over time, and our leadership today in critical minerals, energy, quantum systems engineering and space resources. In simple terms, John’s main priorities are to increase the sophistication of how we collect and share industry input across Mines and to make it easy and desirable for industry to partner with Mines – all for the broader goal of ensuring that we continue to produce the graduates, knowledge and innovations that industry needs.” 

“Mines has an extraordinary opportunity to become the university that companies turn to first for talent, research and solutions that move efficiently from innovation to deployment,” Bradford said. “Our strength is the combination of deep technical expertise, hands-on education, entrepreneurial problem solving and a culture that understands industry. This role is about bringing those strengths together in a more coordinated, visible and measurable way so that partners experience Mines as fast, clear, strategic and focused on real-world impact.” 

Mines is home to one of the nation’s largest career fairs, with more than 1,000 companies recruiting Mines students every year.  Additionally, in 2024, 20 percent of Mines’ total research funding came from industry partners – compared to a national average of just 8 percent.    

As Mines’ first Vice President for Industry Partnerships, Bradford will work across academic affairs, research, entrepreneurship and innovation, career services and the Colorado School of Mines Foundation to build on those strengths, emphasizing more sophisticated, multi-layered partnership models — with a focus on replacing fragmented transactional agreements with broader institutional partnerships. 

Since joining Mines in 2017, Bradford has held a series of senior leadership roles, including Geophysics Department Head, Vice Provost and Dean, Vice President for Global Initiatives, and now Vice President for Industry Partnerships.  Prior to Mines, he spent more than 15 years at Boise State University, where he helped grow one of the nation’s leading applied geophysics research centers and served as its director.  Bradford has extensive experience working with industry, government agencies and international partners to address complex workforce and technical challenges, with a focus on translating scientific advances into practical solutions. 

Bradford holds a PhD in geophysics from Rice University and bachelor's degrees in physics and engineering physics from the University of Kansas. A recognized leader in the geosciences community, Bradford was awarded life membership by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) in 2012 and served multiple terms on the SEG Board including as President in 2015-2016.