Member of the Elon trustees Jim Maynard passed away at 91 on Dec. 24, 2023. Maynard joined the board of trustees in 1985 after having a successful career as the owner of Tower Mills Inc. — a hosiery company founded by his father and former Elon trustee, Reid Maynard. Jim was elected a life trustee in 2014, and received Elon’s highest honor for service to the university, the Elon Medallion, in 2018.
Jim has impacted Elon through his time as a trustee, endowing scholarship programs to both the business fellows and teaching fellows programs, donating his family’s home to become the residence of the president and receiving the Frank S. Holt Jr. Business Leadership Award to honor those contributions.
Leo Lambert, president emeritus of Elon, spoke about Jim’s contributions to Elon.
“He gave so much of his time, his attention, his work, his philanthropy to Elon, and we were very fortunate about that,” Lambert said.
Jim attended undergraduate university at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and received his graduate degree at the Harvard Business School, where he met his wife: public school teacher Joie Maynard.
Lambert also spoke about Joie and how many of both Jim and Joie’s contributions were given together.
“Joie Maynard is one of the smartest people you’d ever want to meet. She and Jim wanted to support really good students coming into Elon, and so I think that’s another reason why they gave so generously to the fellows programs,” Lambert said.
Jim was also a recipient of the Elon Medallion, which is the highest honor through the University.
“Usually about two or three are given out every year, and they go to people who really shaped the institution in deep and profound ways, usually through their lifetime or career,” Lambert said. “Jim really deserved that honor, as well as the honor of being a lifetime trustee.”