Frank L. Sims

In 2008, Frank L. Sims retired from Cargill, Inc. where he led major strategic business segments both in the United States and internationally. He retired as Corporate Vice President, and as a distinguished member of the Corporate Management Team. As President of Cargill’s North American Grain Business, Sims was responsible for the oversight and management of a $6 billion annual operation with 3,000 employees.

In addition to his service as the Interim President of Fisk University (2015-2017), he served as a member of the Fisk University Board of Trustees three years prior to this interim appointment. Sims’ previous board and related experience includes service as Chairman of the Board, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank; Advisory Committee to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation; Advisory Committee to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; and a fifteen-year member of the Chicago Board of Trade.

He currently serves on the Board of South Jersey Industries, Inc. Sims serves as a member of the non-profit boards of United Theological Seminary (Minnesota) and PACT, Inc. (Washington, DC) and Forum for Theological Exploration (Atlanta, GA).

He is a 1972 graduate of Paul Quinn College where he earned his B.A. in Business Administration, cum laude. The College honored him with an Honorary Doctorate in 2013. He and his wife, Robyn, a Fisk alumna, have three children Bradford, Leigh-Kirstin and Franklin, also a Fisk alumnus. His mother-in-law, Zenobia Bracy Jefferson, and two of her sisters are also Fisk alumnae.