Spotlight On Staff: Tim Miller

When he is not in the office working as executive director of GW’s Student Activities Center, Tim Miller enjoys playing music and sports, walking his two dogs and gardening.

By Julia Parmley

While serving as an adviser on an alternative spring break trip to Florida in 1998, Tim Miller realized he wanted to help others for a living. In 2002, he came to the University to direct GW’s Office of Community Service. Now the executive director of GW’s Student Activities Center, Miller oversees Greek life, leadership programs, the LGBT Resource Center, Colonial Inauguration, GradLife, major student events and more than 350 student organizations. His favorite part of the job is helping people find their “paths and passions,” and his efforts were recognized with a GW Award at this year’s Commencement ceremony.

Q: What was your favorite memory from this
academic year?
A: Walking down Pennsylvania Avenue at the end
of a very long Inauguration Day. I had been up for 44 hours straight, but seeing what the students had
accomplished made me feel proud for them and the University.

Q: Do you have any passions?
A: I love playing music. I have been playing the guitar since I was 15 and am in a band called the Miller Band with two other people. We have been together for three years and have played at the Foggy Bottom Block Party, GW’s Inaugural Ball and at Tonic Restaurant. We play all kinds of music; our favorites are “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi, “Umbrella” by Rihanna and “Collide” by Howie Day.

Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: When I was growing up I wanted to be in law enforcement. I actually did an internship at the U.S. Marshals Service for three years in high school and studied political science
and criminal justice in college. But when I graduated I realized I didn’t want to become a police officer and fell into higher education after a job managing the student union facilities at James Madison.

Q: What relaxes you after a long day in the office?
A: Playing music and gardening. Right now I have three different gardens at my house in Vienna, Va. I have fruits, vegetables and flowers, because my wife, Jamie, loves flowers. Jamie laughs sometimes when I get home late at night, because I’ll put on my
headlamp and work in the garden. If I could work outside all day, I would!

Q: What do you like to do on the weekends?
A: I like to be outside in the yard and play sports. I’m on a flag football team with some GW friends, and I also play on softball and soccer teams. Our house is near the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, so I like to bike or take long walks on it with my two dogs, Jack and Gunnar. The band also gets together to practice a few hours every other weekend.

Q: What is your favorite place in the D.C. metro area?
A: I like Ben’s Chili Bowl, because I love the history of the U Street area. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is my favorite museum. My wife’s father is a docent there so he has given my students and me a lot of tours. Also, I love the Jefferson Memorial at night. I grew up in Woodbridge, Va., so on prom night my friends and I went to the memorial and hung out on the steps. Finally, Gravelly Point Park in Arlington is a neat place to watch the planes take off from Reagan National Airport.

Q: Who is the most important person in your life?
A: Jamie. We met when we were undergraduates at James Madison and got married
in the atrium at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna in 2000. Nothing I do
could ever happen without her.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu