Treasurer, Dale Sims receives the Jesse M. Unruh Award

Remarks made by Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, President of the National Association of State Treasurers when she presented the prestigious Unruh award to Treasurer Sims on August 19, 2008.

"It has been a pleasure serving as President of NAST this year, working with all of the talented people who give their time to the organization. I can think of so many examples of NAST members who go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure things get done. From our federal agenda to our excellent conferences, to the informal information exchange that goes on continually among us, the willingness to help defines our organization and makes it strong.

Jesse M. Unruh, a founding member of NAST and former California Treasurer, was a model of this cooperative spirit. In his honor, we present an award to recognize an active treasurer's outstanding service to the association, the profession, and his or her state.

This year we have a particularly worthy recipient of the award—one for whom it is just a token of our enormous appreciation for his service. Treasurer Dale Sims of Tennessee has devoted untold hours to NAST since taking office in 2003. I probably don’t need to recount his amazing contributions because you know them so well, but I will.

Dale has served NAST as Vice President of the Southern Region and chair of the Long Range Planning Committee. In that role he led our strategic planning process over many months, working to integrate the ideas of everyone involved into a cohesive set of goals. One of the treasurers who nominated him for this award said, "He has undertaken an enormous task with the Long Range Planning Committee duties and has succeeded in steering the future direction of NAST." Another nomination stated, "He always goes above and beyond his duties. He is an invaluable asset to NAST!"

Through the many hours of work on the strategic plan Dale showed his wisdom and sense of fairness. He sought to bring treasurers, network members, and corporate affiliates together to develop a vision for our organization—not an easy task. His superb leadership and investment of time into NAST will pay dividends for years and years to come.

As State Treasurer of Tennessee, Dale is a respected professional known for his expertise in public finance. He led the development of the state’s Bank Collateral Pool, which offers local financial institutions a more efficient method to secure state and local government deposits. He also led implementation of a managed care network through which over 60,000 state employees are provided workers' compensation medical benefits, saving the state millions of dollars.

It is a great pleasure working with Dale, and this award is in recognition of his ongoing dedication to NAST. He continues to give of his time and talents and we look forward to having him as part of our association for many years to come. I think we can all agree that Treasurer Dale Sims of Tennessee is a most worthy recipient of this year’s Jesse M. Unruh award!"