7 minute read
A Legacy of Mark E. Timmes
A LEGACY OF MARK E . TIMMES
Will officially retire at the 57th Supreme Chapter in July.
Timmes led the fraternity to new heights and helped create the growth that Kroeg, Fogarty and Mixson never envisioned. His humble beginnings in Pi Kappa Phi led him to oversee a fraternity that has become not only respected, but admired and desired.
He started his time at Pi Kappa Phi as the first Director of Communications in December 1979, where he worked under then-Executive Director Durward Owen. Timmes then left in 1981 to attend law school and ultimately practice law in Florida until he had a notion that his service to the national fraternity wasn’t done.
LEADERSHIP
In 1993, after a lengthy search, the National Council selected Timmes as Pi Kappa Phi’s eighth Executive Director.
Timmes assumed office in 1994, and two years later, he became the CEO who oversaw all four entities of Pi Kappa Phi— the Fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi Properties, Pi Kappa Phi Foundation and Push America. Timmes served as CEO of Push America until 2004 and remained active with the philanthropy’s development. All four operations grew under Timmes’s 28 years of leadership.
Under his leadership, the fraternity has grown to more than 150,000 initiates and currently has 159 chapters across the country. Furthermore, Pi Kappa Phi has become a leader in the member development and prevention education spaces. He led three high-impact capital campaigns to grow the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation’s corpus from $2.5 million to $14.5 million, which enabled the Foundation to provide more scholarships and fund more leadership and educational programs. He has guided Pi Kappa Phi Properties from a six-facility portfolio to 25 facilities. The Ability Experience, previously known as Push America, continued its travel across the country with its signature event, Journey of Hope. The Ability Experience has added several different service programs—including Gear Up Florida, Build America and Gaming for Inclusion—to give more aid to those of all abilities.
In his first CEO Corner in Star & Lamp, Timmes wrote about the challenge of “standing on the shoulders of giants.” He has lived up to the challenge by leading beyond Pi Kappa Phi. Timmes’s service to the fraternity/sorority community is unmatched. Most notably, he has served on the governing board of the North American Interfraternity Conference; President of the Fraternity Executives Association; and Vice Chairman of FRMT, a captive insurance company which also provides risk management resources and education to improve the undergraduate experiences of its member organizations. As a result, the NIC presented him with its gold medal, the highest honor the Conference can bestow, which recognizes lifelong service to the interfraternal community.
“My decision to join Pi Kappa Phi and get involved was one of the most pivotal of my life,” he says. While joining Pi Kapp may have been pivotal for Timmes, his legacy of leadership in Pi Kappa Phi has been crucial to the growth of our fraternity.
Q&A with Mark E. Timmes
Q: WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING CEO?
A: It was certainly a learning curve as I came into the position. We all bring our past skills and experiences to the table. I had an accounting degree, and you need to understand the financial aspect of the organization and nonprofit accounting. Of course, you’re managing an association, which means management skills, and that was probably the area where I had the least experience. I had been an attorney, but I had never been a managing partner in a law firm. Lastly, an understanding of higher education and how it works with fraternity were all skills I had to master.
Q: HOW DID YOU FEEL AS YOU WERE APPLYING TO BE CEO?
A: I submitted my application in spring 1992, and I got hired in September 1993. It was a drawn-out, 18-month process. One of the speaking opportunities I faced in the final interview was “Why should your son be in a fraternity?” By the end of the process after returning home and hearing nothing, I was despondent that I didn’t get the job. Then the phone rang, and it was National President Dr. Phil Summers. He asked if he was speaking to the next executive director of Pi Kappa Phi, and I said, “I hope you are!”
Q: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO SERVE PI KAPPA PHI PROFESSIONALLY?
A: I just felt that it was my calling to do this. I really felt to my core that this was something I was meant to do. I knew I was going to be good at this and that I was going to be good for the organization.
Q: WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY LIKE AS CEO?
A: Every day is different—there is no average day. When I was first hired, I was just the Executive Director of the Fraternity. I became joint CEO of all four entities in 1996. It changed the scale and scope of the job dramatically.
Q: HOW HAS LORRIE MADE AN IMPACT ON YOUR JOB AS CEO?
A: Lorrie re-energized me. She’s supported me these last eleven years in many ways. She had a higher education background, so obviously she understood the hours that it took and the middle of the night phone calls. To have a partner by your side who believes in the fraternity and the students like I do was everything.
Q: HOW DID THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGE THE JOB?
A: I’m a dinosaur when it comes to technology. I grew up on snail mail letters you would send to people when long distance telephone calls were still expensive. Now email and social media dominate our day. It is difficult to keep up with constituent response.
Q: WHAT’S THE BIGGEST MOMENT YOU’VE SEEN AS CEO?
A: We’ve initiated US senators like Ernest Hollings and Lindsey Graham—that was certainly a fun moment. We watched the fraternity grow in stature among our interfraternal peers. Campuses wanted Pi Kappa Phi, which was great for us. We broke ground and opened the Kelley A. Bergstrom Leadership Center, and we’ve seen increases in the Foundation, Properties and The Ability Experience to add to that growth.
Q: WHAT’S BEEN YOUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT AS CEO?
A: Beyond making it 28 years, I think Pi Kappa Phi is better positioned as a respected, admired, and desired fraternity. That’s what it’s always been about to me— it’s about Pi Kappa Phi. It’s not about Mark. I was very careful about that. It wasn’t about the person who was the CEO. Durward was our icon for 35 years. We didn’t need another icon. We needed a consistent presence running the organization, and I made sure that it was Mark Timmes—the person—that interacted with students and alumni. It’s always been about defining who and what we are as a fraternity, our values and our culture.
It's about Pi Kappa Phi. It's not about Mark. It's about defining who and what we are as a fraternity, our values and our culture.
Q: HOW LONG DID YOU THINK YOUR TENURE WOULD LAST?
A: I intended to serve the fraternity for the rest of my life. I might have made it to age 70, but a few years ago, I decided 65 just felt like the right age to bring in someone younger with more energy who could relate better to the students, and provide fresh ideas. I signed my last contract in 2016, which included me retiring at age 65.
Q: ANY ADVICE FOR JAKE?
A: I remember when I took over. I had so much energy and so many new fresh ideas. I think you need to pace yourself. Be a good listener and get feedback from everybody. Be a change agent for the organization when necessary. I feel the fraternity was better under my watch, and it will be even better under Jake’s watch.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR PI KAPP MOTTO?
There’s a lot of fraternities out there, but what’s going to set Pi Kappa Phi apart? What’s going to make us compelling? What’s going to differentiate us? What’s going to make and keep us a respected, admired and desired fraternity?
