
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Kelley School of Business suffered a tremendous loss on Oct. 10 with the death of Timothy T. Baldwin, the Randall L. Tobias Chair in Leadership and a faculty member for more than three decades.
“It will be hard to imagine the Kelley School without Tim’s infectious smile, friendly demeanor, and high energy,” said Ash Soni, interim dean of the Kelley School and the SungKyunKwan Professor, expressing the thoughts of many. “Tim was a friend to many, and I know this loss will be hard to process.”
“Tim was a beloved colleague and friend and positively affected the lives of so many faculty, students and staff over his 35 years of devoted service,” added Dan Li, chairperson of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship and the L. Leslie Waters Chair in International Business. “He’s always, always, been there to give, to support and to lead. The world is a dimmer place without this amazing person.”
The school and its faculty and staff are sending their condolences and support to Baldwin’s wife, JoEllen, and their son, Matt, along with many tributes from professional colleagues, former students, and friends on social media.
A Michigander by education, Baldwin was a Hoosier most of his professional life. He came to IU and Kelley in 1987 from Michigan State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Business Administration and Ph.D. degrees. He also briefly worked in corporate recruitment for the American Hospital Supply Corporation in the early 1980s.
Baldwin taught in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, which he chaired from 2014 to 2020. He was a world-renowned scholar and teacher and was devoted to IU and the Kelley School with his innumerable service contributions.
His teaching and research, for which he was recognized with many awards, focused on leadership, human resources, and organizational development. He 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,” said Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, associate professor and associate chairperson of management and entrepreneurship, and Li in the department’s remembrance they co-wrote about Baldwin’s professional accomplishments. (more…)