The dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma has been appointed the new dean of the Indiana University School of Music pending approval of the Trustees of IU, meeting today (May 9) in Bloomington.
The dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma has been appointed the new dean of the Indiana University School of Music pending approval of the Trustees of IU, meeting today (May 9) in Bloomington.
Woods will succeed Charles Webb, who will retire July 1 after 24 years of service.
The new appointee was unanimously recommended by the faculty committee which has been screening candidates for the past six months. Lawrence Hurst, professor of music at IUB, chaired the committee.
"David Woods was the overwhelming choice of a superb search committee," said Kenneth Gros Louis, IU vice president for academic affairs and chancellor of the Bloomington campus. "His faculty at Oklahoma, other administrators and, indeed, faculty across the campus have enormous affection for him. It is clear to me that he brings to us the kind of personal and sensitive touch that epitomized Charles Webb's superb years as dean. I could not be more pleased." Others agreed.
"He is uniquely qualified to lead the nation's premier music school," said IU President Myles Brand, noting that the Webb tradition of excellence will be continued. "He will be fully supportive of the school's world-renowned faculty and nurturing of its talented students."
"Dr. Woods brings to the school an enormous breadth and depth of experience in music administration," Hurst said. "During the search process, he clearly emerged as the person most capable of leading the IU School of Music into the next century and maintaining its worldwide prestige."
Woods earned master's and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University and did postgraduate work at the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Conservatory of Music in Denmark. His field is music education. He has published numerous books and articles about children and music and is regarded as a major authority on early childhood music.
Before going to Oklahoma in 1991, Woods had served as director of the School of Music at the University of Arizona and as chair of the Division of Music Education at Iowa State University. He is also the former chair of the Department of Music at the Colorado Academy.
During his career, Woods has received two Fulbright Fellowships as well as a Ford Foundation grant to develop and implement a comprehensive curriculum in music, preschool through university, in Iceland and in Ames, Iowa. He also was recognized at Iowa State as "Outstanding Teacher" and at Oklahoma as "Outstanding Administrator." In 1995, he received the Governor's Arts Award from Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.
Woods also has served on the boards of a variety of state and national musical organizations, including the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
"David Woods has excellent experience as a chief music administrator," said Webb of his successor. "He is a sensitive, thoughtful person who recognizes and seeks superior quality in faculty appointments. He will bring outstanding leadership and I look forward to a smooth and orderly transition."
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