Meet Jake Simms (PhD)
Jake is a dedicated educator, researcher, and mentor with a deep commitment to student success. With a PhD in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism, he combines a strong foundation in both qualitative and quantitative research with extensive experience supporting students.
Jake’s coaching style is student-centered, practical, and highly supportive—designed to help students develop the skills and confidence needed to produce meaningful, high-quality academic work. Whether guiding students through qualitative thematic analysis or helping them design robust quantitative surveys and crunch large data sets, Jake brings clarity, encouragement, and rigor to each stage of the research process.
Quick facts
- Supported approaches: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
- Favourite methods: Interviews, surveys, ethnographic observations, literature reviews, reflective journals
- Analysis method specialties: Thematic analysis, discourse analysis, GT, content analysis, regression, ANOVA
- Research interests: Sport and recreation, education, leadership, qualitative methodology
- Favourite software: SPSS, Taguette and NVivo
Experience
In addition to his role at Grad Coach, Jake is an Assistant Professor at Lincoln Memorial University. There, he teaches both undergraduate and graduate-level research-intensive courses, mentors students on literature reviews and academic writing, and produces high-quality peer-reviewed publications. He has also served on dissertation committees and provided one-on-one dissertation guidance to doctoral candidates. Prior to this, Jake was a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant at the University of Illinois, where he supported a research lab mentoring undergraduates. Additionally, Jake has served as an editorial board member and ad-hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals.
Qualifications
Jake earned his PhD in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism from the University of Illinois, along with an MA in Sport Management from William Jessup University and a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies from Western Governors University. In addition to his academic credentials, Jake holds a Certificate in the Foundations of Teaching and a Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. His wide-ranging background in education, research and mentoring ensures that students receive both practical guidance and academic excellence throughout the research process.
Want to work with Jake?
Book a no-obligation consultation with Jake to discuss Private Coaching.