Epitomizing Beneficence
From humble beginnings in the Heartland to president of a technology and marketing company in the City of Brotherly Love, Timothy M. Andrews, ’84 gives back to the community that helped get him there.
Growing up in St. Louis Crossing, Ind., Timothy M. Andrews, ’84, didn’t have the same liberties as most kids—and he would be the first to admit that.
In fact, Mr. Andrews and his mother didn’t have indoor plumbing until he was in fifth grade.
“We were on food stamps and Medicaid,” Mr. Andrews said. “We received a welfare check every month because my mom was disabled and unable to work. It was not an easy time.”
Mr. Andrews overcame his situation through his passion for journalism and a small-town support system that helped him get to Ball State University.
“I have felt supported every step of my life,” Mr. Andrews said. “It was the neighbors, the people that we went to church with, and the community we lived in. I may not have been always proud of the fact that we were on welfare, Medicaid, and food stamps, but I felt incredibly supported by those programs, and they were very important to me.”
That sense of community followed him during his time living on campus in Swinford Hall, and his years with The Ball State Daily News. And being part of the Ball State family made an impact.
“We had some great professors who were really important in my life: David Knott, MA ’71, who was my advisor with The Ball State Daily News; and Marilyn Weaver, ’65 MA ’70, who was the department chair of the School of Journalism,” Mr. Andrews said. “They really believed in me and gave me great advice.”
Fortified by his degrees in Economics and Journalism, community support, and a courageous spirit, Mr. Andrews spent 16 years rising through management roles at Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and now serves as president and chief executive officer of the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) in Philadelphia.
Since joining ASI about 20 years ago, he has led a transformation of the largely print business into a digital and events business platform with 350 employees and a global network of 25,000 suppliers, distributors, and decorators in the $26 billion promotional products industry.
Just as Ball State has invested in him, Mr. Andrews has given back generously.
In 2021, Mr. Andrews helped create an endowment to fund a graduate assistantship within the Multicultural Center to study LGBTQ+ issues with a focus on the intersection between LGBTQ+ studies and the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities.
First-generation students celebrate at an event in the center’s first-floor lobby named in recognition of Tim Andrews
Mr. Andrews credits a meeting with Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns in New York City for rekindling a strong personal connection to the University and for inspiring a sense of optimism about the University’s future.
“I was so impressed by his approach in growing Ball State and making it more meaningful,” Mr. Andrews said. “I was also impressed with the community engagement with local educational institutions that he and others at Ball State have been involved in. I was just really excited about the work that was being done.
“Everyone at Ball State I have been in touch with is incredibly impressive. They’re passionate about what they’re doing, and they’re engaged in the community, which is broadly defined. It isn’t just the community of their department or their school, it’s the community at large. I just find that to be really invigorating and exciting.”
That excitement helped drive Mr. Andrews to join the Ball State University Foundation Board of Directors and make another contribution—this time focusing on the new performing arts center as part of The Village Revitalization Project as a principal donor.
“I think the performing arts center will draw people from around Indiana to the Ball State community and they will begin to understand what’s going on the Ball State campus and feel the excitement here,” Mr. Andrews said. “It will bring more entertainment, more enthusiasm, more arts, and performances of all types. It will create another level of engagement in the community and allow people to feel at home.”
Despite spending the past four-plus decades more than 500 miles away from his alma mater, Mr. Andrews doesn’t forget how special Ball State was to him.
“I think Ball State is a big place, but it fosters a community and really mentors students,” Mr. Andrews said. “It isn’t just a transactional place. They deeply care about you as a person.”
