Meet the Chair of Education: Dr. David D. Timony
A Ph.D. in educational psychology. A master’s degree in educational psychology. A master’s degree in education. A bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar performance with a concentration in education. An active Jiu-Jitsu fighter with a killer passion for heavy metal music. These achievements are just a hint of what you get when you meet Dr. Timony, chair of Delaware Valley University’s Department of Education. “Jack of all trades, master of none.” This figure of speech refers to someone who has dabbled in many things and has not taken the time to master one particular thing. Dr. Timony might just break that mold. He may be a jack of all trades and a master of most!
Rise and grind; he awakes at 6 a.m. and doesn’t go to sleep until about midnight. During the day he is teaching, grading papers, and connecting with students and fellow professors. At night, he’s a family man who spends time helping his children pursue their hobbies. A Jiu-Jitsu faixa roxa, practicing chess player is also a part of his repertoire.
But, where did it all begin for this department chair? Well, he’d have to attribute his interests to starting at age three. At three years old, he began playing his first instrument. He always knew he wanted to be involved in the education field and he did not want to pay the bills performing gigs and traveling around grinding day-in and day-out. His drive to teach started to take flight when he graduated from high school. He enrolled in a five-year master’s program straight out of high school as a double major. During this time, he was taking more than 20 credits a semester! His lightest semester was 18 credits.
So, what is our esteemed department chair up to when he’s not teaching? He also attends conferences as a presenter. He attends at least one conference a year and at these conferences, he runs into some old friends. These friends are the same friends you’d have if you were at a book club or an organized event. They meet once a year and when they meet, they pick back up right where they left off. He’s also a part of the planning committee for a conference of schools in Pennsylvania that have teacher education programs. This role requires him to review articles for publication and review proposals for future conference speakers.
But enough about education. What is his musical side like? Growing up he was involved with music and was in many bands from high school to college. Being a music major, many hours of practice were expected of him.
“You might be done with classes by 4 p.m. but what you would do is get home and slam some food and practice for four hours,” said Dr. Timony.
This experience allowed him to perform alongside, at the time, the up-and-coming Philadelphia based hip-hop group, The Roots. Dr. Timony graduated alongside some well-known musicians and artists. Today, he runs a podcast called, “Middle-Aged Metal-Heads,” with DelVal Professor of English Dr. Michael Stamps. On the podcast, they discuss any and all things heavy metal related.
“I attribute a lot of good feelings and good experiences to heavy metal,” said Dr. Timony.
How does a man accomplish all these feats? When we spoke, one thing was clear: he always has the drive to do more, learn a new language, read a book, and basically anything to keep moving forward. As of late, he’s looking for a new strategy to be as productive as he once was. He used to be able to sit alone in a room, blast some heavy metal music, and work entirely on what needed to be done. As time has moved on, however, he's not meeting the same standard as he once was. He plays chess, but not as much he’d like. He was once playing a couple of hundred one-minute online games of chess a week but has since seen that number drop to one or two games a day. However, he’s back on track with a whole new list of projects to boost his productivity.
“Some of the best chess players (I know) are also Jiu-Jitsu Fighters,” said Dr. Timony.
He hopes to someday soon join the Franklin Mercantile Chess Club. He also enjoys taking his family with him when he attends his conferences. A family man, a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, a musician, and a chess player, all the while being the Chair of the Department of Education at DelVal. That is Dr. David D. Timony.
About the Author
Raymond Pacheco Jr '20 is a student at Delaware Valley University. He wrote this personality profile about Dr. David D. Timony, chair of the University's Department of Education, as part of the News Reporting and Writing course on campus. The course is taught by Katie Carnevale.