Professor found dead on campus

An IU English professor was found dead Thursday near the south side of the Atwater Parking Garage. Investigators are calling the death a suicide. \nTimothy Wiles, 56, was pronounced dead at the scene at around 1:30 p.m. following his fall from the top level of the Atwater Parking Garage at around 1:10 p.m. on Thursday, IUPD Spokesman Lt. Jerry Minger said. \nKaren Van Arsdale said she was a friend of Wiles for more than 30 years and was very involved with him at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, a local theater company founded by two of Wiles' students more than 20 years ago.\n"We are devastated, shocked, shattered, angry, hurt, sad," Van Arsdale said. "Everyone begins thinking of their last interaction with Tim, and we wonder if we let him know we loved him enough. Tim touched so many people."\nVan Arsdale said she had known Wiles was battling depression ever since she first knew him and had been undergoing treatments, including therapy and medication. She said Wiles didn't try to hide the illness and was very open about it. \nVan Arsdale said if Wiles was having a bad day, typically he'd talk about it with friends or with students. \nMary McGann, Wiles' wife, said if his students said they were feeling depressed, Wiles would share his experiences and tell them how to get counseling.\n"We understand people in that mind frame aren't thinking rationally and they aren't thinking about us, they're only thinking about not having the pain anymore," Van Arsdale said.\nIn his 30 years of teaching at IU, Wiles touched many people, English Department Chairman Stephen Watt said.\nWatt said he fondly remembers a time when he first came to IU and was getting ready to send to a publisher a rough draft of an article. Watt said Wiles sat with a thermos of coffee and read over the manuscript intently.\n"The highly motivated students seemed drawn to him because he was so intelligent," McGann said. "He would spend hours pouring over a manuscript offering feedback and critique."\nIn addition to Wiles' academic influence in drama studies through the English department, Watt said Wiles' tenure as director of the Polish Studies Center from 1991 to 1999 was important.\n"Tim was instrumental in writing grants to help Polish publishers, and raising awareness of Polish culture after the fall of the Soviet Union," Watt said.\nIn addition to Wiles' work at IU, Watt praised the late professor's work at the BPP and credited him with strengthening the organization.\n"I think his work with the BPP cannot be overlooked or underestimated," Watt said. "I'll always be grateful for that and the way it touched my daughter's life."\nBPP's Artistic Director, Richard Perez has decided to name the organization's mainstage theatre the Timothy Wiles Memorial Theatre, Van Arsdale said.\nWatt said the IU Department of English is planning to hold a memorial for Wiles during the fall. For more information, contact the English department at 855-8224.