Tim Garrison Receives 2019 Professional Service and Leadership Award

Timothy J. Garrison, PhD
Dean, Kinsley School of Engineering, Sciences and Technology
Professor, Mechanical Engineering

For the past 22 years, Dr. Timothy “Tim” Garrison has served the York College community in various roles and has helped to build the engineering program from the ground up to what is one of the biggest and most popular programs on campus today. Since his arrival, the program has grown over 600% in student enrollment and from one program to five. His years of hard work and dedication are what made him a strong candidate for this year’s Professional Service and Leadership Award.

The Professional Service and Leadership Award is presented each year to a faculty member or administrator who has served the College community with great vision and distinction, and who has demonstrated the highest qualities and characteristics of leadership in the completion of his or her professional responsibilities.

From a young age, Garrison has always been fascinated about how things worked. He likes to “tinker and understand things.” Naturally, this led him to pursue a career in the engineering field. 

While working on his PhD, he taught summer courses in engineering where he discovered his love of teaching and interacting with students. His first position as a professor was with Louisiana State University. However, as a native Pennsylvanian, he missed home and wanted to move back closer to family and was delighted to find a position with York College of Pennsylvania where he could help expand the then-new Mechanical Engineering program in 1997.

In 2003, the Coordinator of the Mechanical Engineering Program retired, and Garrison was asked to step into this role. From there, he went on to further develop the engineering program, publish numerous professional publications, and receive awards for his work. In 2015 he became the inaugural chair of the Department of Engineering and Computer Science. As the chair, he developed a new program in civil engineering and began the development of a second engineering building since the existing programs had outgrown the Kinsley Engineering Center. The Civil Engineering Center opened its doors in fall 2018 and is adjacent to the Kinsley Engineering Center.

This year, Garrison retires as the first-ever Dean of the Kinsley School of Engineering, Sciences and Technology. He leaves behind an atmosphere he helped to create and describes it as a “welcoming and pleasant homey environment.” His colleagues made “coming to work fun” and the College had the resources and support he needed to help build a quality product in the engineering program.

His next chapter is yet unwritten. He plans to “not make plans” since most of his life has been about planning and structure. Now he and his wife want to just “wing it” and “take things as they come.” An avid photographer, Garrison looks forward to traveling and continuing to capture works of art around him through his camera lens.

His service, vision, dedication to, and lasting impact on the program exemplify the qualities commemorated by the Professional Service and Leadership Award.