Western Carolina University

In December 2005, Western Carolina University announced a pledge of $6.92 million from   Kimmel & Associates, a leading construction industry executive search company founded by Joe W. Kimmel. The gift will leverage an additional $3.495 million in state matching money and other support. At that time the university announced the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology.

Right: Joe Kimmel, founder Kimmel & Associates

John W. Bardo, then chancellor, said the Kimmel gift was among the most important in the university's history. 

Robert McMahan, dean of the school from 2008 to 2011, said the Kimmel School builds relations giving companies access to resources and staff expertise while giving students opportunities to work on real-world projects. That gives our graduates a competitive edge as they begin their careers. The Kimmel gift was an investment in that kind of enhanced education and an investment in the future of Western North Carolina.

The Kimmel gifts will create $9 million in permanent endowments, including $3 million in faculty support that qualifies the university for another $3 million in matching money from the North Carolina Distinguished Professorship Endowment Fund. The gifts also provide $2 million to supplement programmatic operations and activities and $1 million in scholarship support.

In addition, the Kimmel School receives external funding from projects with its partners and grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

WCU press release on the Kimmel gift

Learn More

The Kimmel School is a college-level unit of Western Carolina University with offices located in the Belk Building on WCU's Cullowhee, N.C., campus. 

Visit the School

Please visit the Kimmel School to learn more about what we are doing as a leader in higher education and as a partner in technology-led economic development throughout the region.