Timothy Baldwin, Randall L. Tobias Chair in Leadership
Below is a remembrance of Timothy T. Baldwin, prepared on behalf of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Department of Management and Entrepreneurship and its faculty and staff by Dan Li, Chairperson of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship and the L. Leslie Waters Chair in International Business, and Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Associate Professor and Associate Chairperson of Management and Entrepreneurship:
Timothy T. Baldwin was the Randall L. Tobias Chair in Leadership at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and taught in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, where he was a faculty member for over 35 years and Department Chair from 2014 to 2020. He was a world-renowned scholar and teacher who showed his devotion to IU and the Kelley School with his innumerable service contributions.
Tim published more than 50 academic journal articles and book chapters including several “field classics” on the topic of transfer of employee knowledge and skills from training contexts to their work. It was an appropriate topic for Tim to be passionate about, as he was keenly interested in how the Academy could better serve practitioners and students with actionable insights. His default question to candidates at Department recruiting presentations was how the findings of their research translated to practice. He was co-author of several books, including “Improving Transfer Systems In Organizations” and “Organizational Behavior: Real Solutions to Real Challenges.” He won several competitive national and international research awards over his career from the Academy of Management and the American Society for Training and Development.
As a teacher, Tim had an impact on innumerable students. He developed and taught a litany of courses on the topics of organizational behavior and human resource management at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive education levels, in both in-residence and online modalities. He was the faculty liaison for Executive Degree Programs at the Kelley School. He was frequently recognized for teaching excellence, winning multiple University- and School-level MBA and undergraduate teaching awards. He was also passionate about doctoral education; he chaired five doctoral dissertations and was a member of several dozen dissertation committees. He also worked tirelessly to raise funds to establish a doctoral fellowship for students in the department.
Where Tim likely had his greatest professional impact was as a leader at the Kelley School. As Department Chair, he oversaw the rapid growth of the department by recruiting over 20 full-time faculty members. He was a trusted mentor, confidante, and supporter to all. He helped establish a culture of collegiality, mutual respect, and support and served as the veritable “glue” that held the department together, through thick and thin. He had a preternatural ability to foster a sense of community and closeness even as the department grew. No matter what personal or professional difficulties faculty were facing, you knew Tim would do what he could to provide resources and assistance. All faculty can remember specific Baldwin-isms, whether it’s altering the subject line of an e-mail with a clever joke, his signature line at the bottom of every department e-mail that has continued past his reign (his word) as chair, and, most of all, his relentlessly positive and immutable good nature and spirit.
Tim embodied the Kelley spirit of excellence in research, teaching, and service. All members of the Kelley community are fortunate to have crossed paths with Tim. His professional legacy will live on through all those he impacted throughout his 35-year career. He will be remembered as a beloved colleague, mentor, and friend.
Memorial arrangements
Baldwin is survived by his wife, JoEllen; son Matthew of Fishers, Indiana; loyal canine, Tucker; stepmother, Marie (Chambers) Baldwin; brother and sister-in-law Scott and Sue Baldwin of Northville, Michigan; brother and sister-in-law Ty and Jana Baldwin of Culver, Indiana. He is also survived by seven nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Peter C. Baldwin and his mother, Nancy Jane Baldwin.
Visitation will be Friday, November 11 from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. at The Funeral Chapel of Powell and Deckard (3000 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401). A funeral service will be held on Saturday, November 12 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church (221 E. Sixth Street, Bloomington, IN 47408). See their websites for additional details at: www.thefuneralchapel.net and www.fpcbloomington.org . The funeral service will be streamed live by First Presbyterian Church at: https://fpcbloomington.online.church/ .
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Tim Baldwin Doctoral Fellowship fund at: https://give.myiu.org/iu-bloomington/I380016096.html.
The Bloomington Herald-Times also published an obituary for Baldwin.