SMPS is pleased to announce that Brad Thurman, PE, FSMPS, CPSM, has been honored with the 2025 Weld Coxe Marketing Achievement Award (WCMAA). Brad, a member of SMPS Oklahoma and principal and chief marketing officer at Wallace Design Collective, accepted his award during Amplify A|E|C in Columbus, OH.
Brad’s career spans four decades across the A/E/C community. He joined Wallace in 1987 and quickly established himself as a key contributor to the company’s growth, helping shape Wallace’s marketing department from the ground up.
From the start, Brad leveraged his education and passion for connecting technical expertise with client needs. To this day, he loves to parse through data, find patterns and trends, and then find a way to communicate them graphically rather than just through numbers. Studying architectural engineering was a way to meld both traits, and it reinforced the need to be precise with numbers and communicate them in an eloquent way.
Throughout his education and career, Brad has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to learning and teaching others. He believes that every time you teach something, you learn something in return. Whether helping classmates understand an issue or utilizing his technical background to assist marketing professionals in communicating with their teams, Brad approaches each assignment with knowledge, creativity, and a sense of humor.
Donna Corlew, FSMPS, CPSM, and Melissa Lutz, FSMPS, CPSM, emphasized his role as a tireless educator, encouraging leader, and inspirational role model. “Brad pushes boundaries and sparks inquiry among those who work with him on a day-to-day and a volunteer basis. He has a visionary yet grounded way of helping others to see what is possible.”
Craig S. Galati, FAIA, FSMPS, CPSM, added that, “As an engineer who embraced marketing and business development as core drivers of success, Brad has leveraged his technical background to fuel his passion for advancing both his profession and his firm. His engineering training has honed his strategic planning skills and enabled him to lead a highly effective marketing organization.”
Beyond Wallace, Brad’s influence extends across SMPS and the entire A/E/C industry. He has held numerous leadership roles including SMPS chapter president, SMPS board president, and SMPS Foundation president. His service includes mentoring emerging professionals, speaking at conferences, and contributing to key research initiatives shaping the A/E/C industry, specifically for the SMPS Foundation.
Barbara Shuck, FSMPS, CPSM, shared that “Brad doesn’t just present—he teaches. He invites professionals to think more strategically and act with more intention. His ability to bridge the gap between technical teams and marketing/BD professionals makes him an invaluable voice in our industry.”
Throughout his career, Brad has been a champion of integrating marketing and business development with technical expertise. Brad Thurman’s expertise, vision, and inspiration make him a deserving recipient who has dedicated his career to leadership, mentorship, and advocacy for marketing and business development in the A/E/C arena.
Congratulations, again, to Brad Thurman, PE, FSMPS, CPSM!
