Lincoln (Neb.) - Oct. 16, 2000 - Four candidates for dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will have on-campus interviews. The interview dates will be determined in late October or early November.
The four are David Orr Belcher, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield; Giacomo M. Oliva, professor and director of the School of Music at the University of Florida at Gainesville; Kathleen Rountree, associate dean of the College of Music and Dramatic Arts at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge; and Raymond Tymas-Jones, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts at Ohio University in Athens.
UNL seeks a replacement for Richard Durst, who resigned in the summer to become dean of the College of Art and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University. Lawrence Mallett, director of the School of Music, is interim dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.
Belcher has been at Southwest Missouri State since 1988 and has been dean of the College of Arts and Letters since 1994. He earned his bachelor of music degree magna cum laude in piano performance at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. (1979), his master of music in piano performance at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (1981) and his D.M.A. in piano performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, N.Y., (1989). He joined the SMS faculty as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1993 and professor in 1998. He served one year as assistant dean of the college before becoming dean. He has performed solo or in concert in much of the United States, plus Canada, Austria and Switzerland, and this month is scheduled to play in a chamber recital at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland.
Oliva has been professor and director of the School of Music at Florida since 1992. After studying at the Chatham Square Music School in New York City, he earned his bachelor's degree cum laude (1971) in music education and his master's degree (1975) in applied music (piano) at Montclair (N.J.) State College and his Ed.D. in music education (1980) at New York University. He taught in high schools in New Jersey for 13 years before becoming assistant professor and head of the department of music at Mississippi State University in Starkville. He remained head of the Mississippi State music department while rising to associate professor in 1986 and professor in 1992. At Florida, he guided the development and implementation of a five-year strategic plan for the improvement of facilities, the revision and expansion of curricula, the recruitment of new faculty and the overall enhancement of the School of Music's image in Florida and the southeastern United States. He negotiated the establishment of new full-time faculty lines in choral music, music history, strings and piano, and developed a successful proposal for the implementation this fall of a new Ph.D. degree in music.
Rountree has been at Louisiana State since 1989 and associate dean of LSU's College of Music and Dramatic Arts since 1995. She earned her bachelor of music degree at East Carolina University in Greenville (1973), her master of music degree at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (1977) and her doctor of music degree at Florida State University in Tallahassee (1985). She began her academic career as an instructor at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., from 1974 to 1977, then went to Moorhead (Minn.) State University for three years as an assistant professor. She joined the LSU faculty as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 1993 and professor in 1998. She has edited two print anthologies and a compact disc recording, and is the author of several articles. A pianist, she has performed throughout the United States and overseas, including invited performances for the U.S. ambassador to Hong Kong in 1991 and at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1987. She was a fellow of the American Council on Education at Ohio University in 1999-2000 and received a Distinguished Alumna Award from East Carolina this year. She is vice president of the Music Teachers National Association.
Tymas-Jones has been dean of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio U. since
1998. He earned his bachelor of music degree magna cum laude in voice
performance at Howard University in Washington, D.C. (1977), and his
master of music (1979) in choral conducting and voice performance and his
Ph.D. (1988) in performance practice-voice at Washington University in
St. Louis. He began his academic career as a lecturer at Washington U. in
1980, then went to Buffalo State College (now the State University of New
York at Buffalo) as an instructor in 1983. Tymas-Jones was promoted to
assistant professor in 1988 and to associate professor in 1989. He served
as associate dean/assistant to the dean of the College of Arts and
Humanities from 1990 until 1993, when he moved on to the University of
Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls as associate professor and director of the
School of Music. He was promoted to professor in 1997. A tenor,
Tymas-Jones has performed as featured soloist with the Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra, the St. Louis Orchestra and others. His operatic
performances have included such roles as Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi's "La
Traviata" and Mingo in George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess."
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