William Sims Curry

Based on the third iteration of his nationwide research, William Sims Curry developed forty-eight (48) best practices in public procurement that have received widespread acceptance by the community of public procurement professionals. The comprehensive acceptance of these best practices is evidenced by (1) A strong trend toward implementation of these best practices by state and local government procurement offices, (2) Inclusion in the National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Contract Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK), 2017, 5th edition & 2019 6th edition, (3) Inclusion in a chapter of a 2016 university textbook edited by a Rutgers University professor, (4) Use of Curry’s book, Contracting for Services in State and Local Government Agencies, as a textbook by two public procurement certification programs and for MPA courses, and (5) Award of a contract to WSC Consulting to recommend best procurement practices by one of the ten largest cities in the United States. The second edition of "Contracting for Services in State and Local Government Agencies" received a "Textbook Excellence Award" from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The third edition provides a best practices RFP and a proposal evaluation algorithm that greatly simplifies the proposal evaluation process and clearly identifies the contractor offering the "best value" proposal.

Major features in the third edition of "Government Contracting: Promises and Perils" include a thorough updating of the procurement fraud cases and an improved technique for evaluating contractor proposals. The third edition of “Government Contracting: Ethical Promises and Perils in Public Procurement” is expected in December 2022.

Curry began his government contracting career as an Air Force systems procurement officer. Upon retirement as an Air Force officer, he became the Assistant Purchasing Officer at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) where his efforts were primarily concentrated on the Positron Electron Project. After leaving SLAC, he held the position of subcontract administrator, purchasing manager or materials manager at several government prime contractors where he worked on the Hubble Space Telescope and numerous other NASA and DOD programs. He began his local government contracting experience as a Purchasing Manager, transitioned to Deputy Administrative Officer, and subsequently to the position of General Services Director.

His public procurement consulting assignments include assisting a DOD prime contractor in passing a contractor purchasing system review (CPSR), serving as interim Director of Procurement and Contracts for a California State University (CSU) campus, and serving as a county General Services Director. He also consulted on RFP preparation, proposal evaluation, and provided ethics training for a community college chancellor’s office. Curry also prepared a template for a cloud-based computer software statement of work. His consulting company developed computer software for managing contracts for a large city, and review of the large city's procurement procedures to develop recommendations for implementing best practices in public procurement.

Bill Curry also wrote numerous public procurement related research papers and articles that were published in professional journals and public procurement periodicals. His article "Tools for Deciphering Best Value" appeared in the Defense Acquisition University's "Defense AT&L" [Acquisition, Technology & Logistics] magazine. He conducted workshops and seminars based on the books, research papers, and articles he authored. Curry is a member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), and the California Association for Public Purchasing Officers (CAPPO). He was designated as a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM) and a Fellow by NCMA. Curry served on NCMA's Professional Standards and Ethics Committee for four years. NCMA invited him to write “Deciphering Best Value” which appeared in Contract Management magazine.

He earned an MBA from The Ohio State University and graduated from Florida State University, Beta Gamma Sigma, with a BS in Business Management. Curry also completed numerous government contracting courses including Systems Procurement Officer, Government Contract Law, Contract Administration, and Indirect Cost Management.