Senior Advisor for Partnerships
February 2018–present
Tim, who was the Society’s Executive Director from 2001 to 2018, also now serves as a Visiting Research Scholar at The Ohio State University’s Center for Folklore Studies and at Indiana University’s Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. Before his time at the Society, Tim spent his career in folklore, intangible cultural heritage, and cultural heritage policy work for the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution, and in similar posts in the state governments of Maryland and Ohio. He also directed Cityfolk, a nationally recognized folk arts nonprofit organization in Dayton, Ohio.
Tim received his BA in literature and anthropology and his MA in design, both from The Ohio State University, and his PhD in folklore and American studies from The George Washington University. His research interests include cultural heritage policy, foodways, occupational culture, and the history of folklore studies. He has published a number of articles and reviews, is the co-author (with Patrick B. Mullen) of Lake Erie Fishermen: Work. Identity, and Tradition (University of Illinois Press, 1990), and edited What Folklorists Do: Professional Possibilities in Folklore Studies (Indiana University Press, 2021). Since making a sharp left turn from music education toward folklore studies in undergraduate school, he has also maintained an active career as a drummer and percussionist with American roots music, classical, and concert-band ensembles.
Tim has served as a board and committee member or consultant for many organizations and governmental agencies in the US and abroad. He has lectured frequently in the US, in Europe, and in China. He led AFS’s 15-year partnership with the China Folklore Society and has served on a Fulbright residency in Finland and on a French government-sponsored study tour of regional ecomuseums throughout France.
As Senior Advisor for Partnerships he advises the Executive Director on the Society’s international and scholarly communications activities.