David Tilley, Ed.D.

About:

Prior to moving to where Dr. David Tilley refers to as home, East Tennessee, he lived in New Mexico, Idaho, and Kansas as the son of a minister. He graduated in 1967 from East Ridge High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee and went on to receive his dual degree in political science and education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC).

Upon graduating from UTC in 1971, Dr. Tilley took positions with the Cobb County School District as a middle school teacher and also with Mount Paran Church of God as minister of youth. He went on to receive his M.Ed. in Educational Administration in 1975 from Georgia State University. He was a member of the first Board of Directors when the MPCS opened its doors in 1976. Dr. Tilley served Cobb County as a principal and central office administrator in both Personnel and Local Administration.

In 1982, Dr. Tilley started Straight, Inc., a drug rehabilitation program for adolescents in Marietta, GA. In 1984, he assumed the role of headmaster of Mount Paran Christian School (MPCS) and led its move to the "new” campus from Buckhead to East Marietta.  After initiating the high school program at MPCS, he accepted the position of Vice President for Student Life at Lee University located in Cleveland, TN. While there, he received his doctorate in Leadership Studies from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1995. After 14 years at Lee University, Dr. Tilley accepted a position as Vice President for Student Life located in Houghton College, Houghton, NY.  Dr. Tilley returned to Mount Paran Christian School as headmaster in 2004 and retired from that position in 2018.

Dr. Tilley is the recent past Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA), current member of the Feed My Lambs Board of Directors, and an adjunct faculty member at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA., and Gordon College, Wenham, MA.

Dr. Tilley is married to Angie, and they have three adult children and seven grandchildren.