Walk it out (reposted from previous website)

Tim used to say ‘walk it out’ in each class.  He would challenge everyone in the room to consider an idea, a value or a belief and then ask us ‘how did we walk it out’ in our lives?
For Tim this meant that principles and values needed to be demonstrated and not just spoken of. He was one of the few people that I have met for whom every interaction was guided by his principles and beliefs. In his work, he embraced openness and consideration. Tim did not shy from the difficult or the hard to bear, instead he moved towards and forward.
From Tim, I learned that:

• the most direct path is not always the best,
• silence can be a gift, and
• challenging people is a form of caring.

In his classes and beyond the classroom, Tim lived as he taught.  He touched the lives of those he met with his authenticity and rigour. He did not accept meanness of spirit or intellect.
Professor Timothy Pownall was the kindest and gentlest of men. He was my professor at the Straus Institute and I am forever grateful for the chance I had to meet him, be taught by him and to consider him my friend. To my fellow Waves, all we can do now is ‘walk it out’.



​(First posted on previous website)

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