Tim Steffensmeier | Director of Research & Teacher

Measuring progress captivates Tim Steffensmeier.

He’s drawn to new possibilities and folks who get the job done. Raised in rural Nebraska, Tim completed an M.A. at North Carolina’s Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. at the University of Texas, Austin; yet, Kansas, and the vision of the Kansas Leadership Center, offered a compelling enough reason to put down roots.

Tim has been a member of KLC’s core teaching team since 2009. In 2017, he became the founding director of Third Floor Research, a KLC research center that fosters innovation in the exercise and development of leadership in organizations and communities. He is on the team for KLC’s Lead For Change program and Advanced Leadership Development Intensive.

Alongside his work at KLC, Steffensmeier is a professor and assistant vice president, engagement and outreach at Kansas State University. 

Tim’s international leadership development experience includes, most recently, courses in Japan, Senegal, Australia, and Myanmar. Wherever he travels, Tim is renowned for his skill in navigating tough issues, driving organizational change, and convening community conversations.

Steffensmeier’s publications and presentations focus on leadership, rhetoric, and public deliberation. Tim’s favorite subject to teach is classical rhetoric (old Greek and Latin texts about public speaking, democracy etc.). For him, the ancient questions still resonate: What is a good life? Who gets to participate? How is language used to engage people?

For Tim, that good life is full of big ideas, students and adult learners who exercise more leadership, more often, and ever-deepening roots in Manhattan, Kansas.

Email: [email protected]

City: Manhattan