Dr. J.K. Yates, civil and construction engineering consultant, is an emeritus professor (San Jose State University), former Joe W. Kimmel distinguished professor (Western Carolina University), and dean of the College of Engineering Technology at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, which is one of the largest colleges of engineering technology in the United States. She was also formerly the department head of Construction Management, at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

 

Dr. Yates was previously a professor and department chair in the Department of Construction Management and Engineering at North Dakota State University; in charge of the Construction Engineering and Management focus area in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Ohio University; and the program coordinator for the Construction Engineering program in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at San Jose State University in California.

 

Dr. Yates was also a professor at the Polytechnic School of Engineering of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University and Brooklyn Polytechnic) and at Iowa State University, along with being a visiting professor at the University of Colorado. Dr. Yates received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington with a minor in anthropology/archeology and a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University with minors in global finance and management, global political science, business analysis, and construction science. Dr. Yates has worked for several of the top ranked domestic and global engineering and construction firms, as a consultant during legal cases, and on international contracts.

 

Dr. Yates is the author of ten books, numerous refereed journal articles, and is a former member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Project Management Institute, and the American Association of Cost Engineers International. Dr. Yates received the Distinguished Professor award from the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in 2010 and Polytechnic University in 1994, was the Associated General Contractor’s Outstanding Construction Professor in America in 1997, was one of the Engineering News Records Those Who Made Marks on the Construction Industry in 1991, and received the Ron Brown award for industry/academic collaborations with the Hewlett Packard Foundation in 2001.

 

Dr. Yates has traveled for work and pleasure to twenty-five countries and worked in Bontang, East Kalimantan on the Island of Borneo in Indonesia.