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Whether a student, colleague or visitor, when a person passes Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Tim Peeples around campus he or she can expect a kind greeting, friendly wave or at the very least a smile. Simply put, Peeples is a people person, a trait that has greatly impacted his teaching and leadership roles.

After spending his undergraduate years earning a degree in English and secondary education at a college in Ohio, Peeples went on to Northern Arizona State to earn his master’s degree. Between earning his master’s degree and Ph.D., Peeples took a break to discover if teaching was the career path he wanted to take. After teaching for four years and earning his time “in the trenches,” Peeples decided becoming an educator was indeed the right path.

Upon coming to Elon 13 years ago, Peeples played a major role in developing the university’s Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) program.

“I’ve taught fi rst year writing classes, the PWR senior seminar and everything in between,” he said. “I was probably one of the fi rst people to teach at least half of the [PWR] courses on the books.”

Besides being an active teacher, taking on a varied course load and helping establish what is now one of Elon’s most unique departments, Peeples stayed connected to the university as a whole. He served on several committees and in numerous administrative positions that has helped advance Elon. Before taking on his current role, Peeples served as the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, preceded by time spent working in the President’s offi ce, the Provost’s offi ce and helping form the Elon Law program.

Throughout his various administrative roles, Peeples credits his background as a professor with making his administrative tasks easier to handle.

“For me, being an administrator is just another way to focus on the educational environment,” he said. “Without markers in the classroom or computers and so on you can’t do a good job at teaching. Administrators are the ones who have to think of those things. I have a pretty good sense of what it means to be a teacher. I’m still very sensitive to that and very connected to that.”

While many may consider Peeples a great leader on campus, he has a hard time accepting the title. For Peeples, leadership isn’t just about one person taking charge and telling others what to do. Just as Peeples values collaboration in the workplace and classroom, his view of leadership focuses on working as a unit.

“My defi nition tends to lean more towards collaborative and interdependent kind of leadership,” he said. “It’s more like we’re all leaders, what you do, what I do affects each other. My defi nition of leadership is working with others toward a good direction.”

Peeples said he has always been interested in people and how they interact with each other. In his youth, Peeples moved several times throughout the country. The changes in location and culture taught him how to get along with all different people. Participating in various sports and simply learning by his parents’ example taught Peeples many of the values he holds today: discipline, patience, compromise and the importance of being grounded.

“I don’t know what experience hasn’t had an infl uence on me,” he said.

Despite the important role Peeples plays in the functioning of the university, he doesn’t allow his tasks to monopolize his time. In addition to being great leader, Peeples is a great family man—a role in which he takes more pride.

“I’ve thought about a legacy in my family, but I’ve never thought about a legacy at work,” Peeples said. “I’m most proud when someone says something like, ‘You’re a dedicated father,’ or someone [once] told me, ‘You really know how to keep the weekend.’”

Finding a healthy balance between work and family life proves a top priority for Peeples. He said living life to the fullest is really the greatest project he has to accomplish.

The desire for balance and fullness he has for his personal life is the same that he wants for Elon. While Peeples doesn’t believe he can greatly infl uence the institution on his own, with the help of others he hopes to push it forward.

“I see me working alongside others and shaping this place,” he said. “And I hope that we leave it better place. And that’s the best that I can do, leave it better than when we came here.”

Story By Amanda Kennison

THE ULTIMATE PEOPLE PERSON

GET TO KNOWT im Peeples

Arrived at Elon in 1997

“In dwelling live close to the ground, in thinking keep to the simple, in confl ict be fair and generous, in governing don’t try to control, in work do what you enjoy, in family life be completely presence.” - Lao Tzu

75 // � e Legacies of Elon’s Leaders

� e Legacies of Elon’s Leaders // 76

Tim PeeplesPHOTO BY JUSTINE SCHULERUD