Pictured left to right: Dr. Carolyn Eberly, President Timothy Thyreen and Dr. Robert Eberly Faithful to the end.
That’s how Dr. Carolyn Thyreen described the life of her husband, Timothy R. Thyreen, who served as president of Waynesburg University for 23 years and chancellor for nine.
Chancellor Thyreen passed away at his home on May 16. He was 78 years old.
During his tenure as president, Waynesburg constructed 12 new buildings and transitioned from college status to University status.
For people that were close to him, however, the biggest accomplishment of his presidency was not a physical one; it was a philosophical one, a spiritual one.
“He was challenging the students to make a significant difference with their lives through their education. And that meant serving God and serving people and that is the restoration, the bringing back of the Christian mission was what he was certainly the most pleased with,” Dr. Thyreen said.
—THE MISSION—
According to Waynesburg University’s website, the three focuses of the University’s mission statement are “Faith, Learning, and Service,” and Dr. Thyreen identified returning Waynesburg to that mission as the biggest accomplishment of Chancellor Thyreen’s work at Waynesburg.
Waynesburg University’s current president, Douglas G. Lee, agreed. To him, returning an institution to its original mission was a rare accomplishment.
“He took us back to the mission of 1849, the mission that was established in those early days by people of strong faith that trusted in God to bring us a better world through servant leadership,” he said. “And taking us back to that point is really, really uncommon for an institution to go back to its founding mission.”
“He took us back to the mission of 1849, the mission that was established in those early days by people of strong faith that trusted in God to bring us a better world through servant leadership… taking us back to that point is really, really uncommon for an institution to go back to its founding mission.”
President Douglas G. Lee
According to Dr. Thyreen, the chapel is the physical representation of Waynesburg’s return to the mission of faith and was the capstone for the Chancellor’s legacy at Waynesburg University.
“When we came to the university or to the college in 1983, the name of Christ really was not spoken except in slurs. And so we knew our work was cut out for us and we never thought we believed we would reach that day that, that, that the name of Christ would be lifted up,” she said. “The building of that chapel was a wonderful affirmation of where we were as a university. And that was a great pleasure for me and for him as well, that forever that cross will be at the top of the highest point of the campus as a symbol and as a draw for students and the community to us to understand the message.”
According to Dr. Thyreen, the university’s educational standards also significantly increased during Chancellor Thyreen’s tenure as President, and she believes that the university’s emphasis on returning to the university’s original mission is a primary cause for that.
“The students we would see and get to know each year that we could see that we were drawing more students who were serious about their education, who were serious about their faith, and faculty that came,” she said. “It was the faculty today that would say that they wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t a Christian institution. So it was always a path that was constantly moving towards the direction of providing the kind of education for the students that it is today.”
According to Lee, the connection between faith and learning is deeply intertwined and further underscores the commitment on display throughout Chancellor Thyreen’s life.
“It shows what faith can do when God calls you to a task. God will provide the resources to finish the task,” he said. “You notice another connection is every plaque has a Bible scripture giving glory to God or a message to those that read it about who God is and God’s grace and truth in this world.”
According to a press release, Waynesburg University doubled enrollment, added masters and doctoral programs, along with numerous academic programs, and created the Stover Center for Constitutional studies.
The third pillar of the University’s mission is service, which supplements faith and learning. According to Dr. Thyreen, this was an equally critical focus for the chancellor.
“He always would use the term, you know, making a difference with your life. And he meant it, she said. “Our approach was that community service was really at the very heart of being a Christian and seeing and depending on God to provide the energy and the means to do that.”
One of the most significant changes to the University’s commitment to service was the institution of the Bonner Scholars program in 1990, according to Dr. Thyreen. Waynesburg was the first school in Pennsylvania to be awarded the Bonner Scholar program. A university press release attributes over 750,000 hours of community service to Waynesburg students as a result of the Bonner program.
In 2004, the Bonner Foundation established a scholarship at Waynesburg.
“At a time when we were moving towards community service and serving God and people, there really was no money to do that,” Dr. Thyreen said. “That’s when the Bonner Foundation came and awarded us a very prestigious scholarship program. And so that just kind of convinced anybody who had questions as to whether we should be going in this direction that this was really being awarded and seen and recognized.”
“At a time when we were moving towards community service and serving God and people, there really was no money to do that,” Dr. Thyreen said. “That’s when the Bonner Foundation came and awarded us a very prestigious scholarship program. And so that just kind of convinced anybody who had questions as to whether we should be going in this direction that this was really being awarded and seen and recognized.”
Pictured: President Thyreen with Mrs. Corella Bonner
—THE MAN–
Thyreen’s impact on the community extended far beyond his work as president and chancellor at Waynesburg University. Chancellor Thyreen also was on a number of boards and led numerous organizations, according to the university’s press release. He served on the board of directors at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, was chairman of both the Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges & Universities and served on the Pennsylvania Lawyers Client Security Fund Board.
He also provided other higher education presidents with advice about how to lead their programs, according to Dr. Thyreen.
“We would go to presidential meetings who were trying to bring about a better educational experience. He had good contacts with presidents that would call him and would talk to him at meetings. And they depended on him when they saw that we were being successful in moving in the direction we were,” she said. “And not everyone was successful at doing that, but there we were. We were a model to a lot of schools.”
Throughout his life, Chancellor Thyreen was a source of advice not just for other presidents and community leaders: According to Dr. Thyreen, he was also a constant source of wisdom for students as well.
“He taught and was in education his whole life, and he could relate to students,” Dr. Thyreen said. “He was a very unselfish, humble person, but very very analytical and always seemed to know what a person needed to hear. And he was respected throughout, you know, throughout the educational community. And the state was a leader and they trusted him. And he wasn’t one that was boastful, I think. I think people that know him and the students that knew him remember him.”
According to Dr. Thyreen, his work as a mentor and a coach was something that was incredibly important to him, and he continued that work up until the end of his life.
“He loved to teach. He was a teacher and a coach, and he coached to the end. His final weeks, he had opportunities to coach several people who needed the advice,” she said.
One person in particular who received significant mentoring and advice is President Lee. According to Lee, Chancellor Thyreen was a constant source of wisdom and support, particularly in the early days of Lee’s tenure.
“I have other colleagues that are presidents that I discuss with as well. But that was a sort of a special relationship because, you know, he knew this place as well as I know it. I know this place as well as he knew it,” he said.
—THE LEGACY–
As students settle into the new school year, the absence of the chancellor is notable for President Lee.
“You just miss someone who’s become such a great friend and mentor. And, you know, that’s the one thing that I probably appreciate more now than I did over the summer was, you know, just how much of a great influence he was and how he’s missed by so many others have shared that with me too,” Lee said.
Lee said that the Thyreen family farm will be donated to the university as a retreat.
Additionally, Lee said that the Timothy and Carolyn Thyreen Service Leadership award continues as a way to honor Chancellor Thyreen’s legacy at Waynesburg.
As for new students who matriculated after the passing of Chancellor Thyreen, Lee said that they can see the impact of his life on campus in the shape of buildings constructed during his time at Waynesburg.
“Look at the beautiful campus he left behind. There’s a symbol of his creative genius and his commitment to excellence and his passionate love of the mission of the university,” he said.
“Look at the beautiful campus he left behind. There’s a symbol of his creative genius and his commitment to excellence and his passionate love of the mission of the university,” Lee said.
Dr. Thyreen also said that she believes that Chancellor Thyreen’s legacy as a person will leave a lasting impression on people.
“He was a good man. He was a faithful person. He had a sense of humor. He was the most quick-witted person,” she said. “He had a bright, brilliant mind, wonderful mind, a big heart, and a love for students.”
