Appointment of Michael Beckerman as Dean of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

Dear Colleagues:

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Beckerman as the next dean of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, effective on or before October 1, 2025.

Professor Beckerman serves as the Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music and Collegiate Professor of Music at New York University, where he served as chair of the Department of Music from 2004 to 2013 and 2020 to 2022, and Global Research Initiative co-director from 2017 to 2020. Prior to his appointment at NYU, Beckerman was a distinguished professor at Lancaster University (2011–15) and a member of the music faculty at UC Santa Barbara (1992–2003) and Washington University in St. Louis (1982–1992).

A musicologist specializing in Czech and Eastern European music, with strong ties to ethnomusicology, composition and performance, Professor Beckerman has lectured and performed internationally and written many studies and several books on Czech music topics, including New Worlds of Dvořák (W.W. Norton, 2003), Dvořák and His World (Princeton University Press, 1993), Janáček and His World (Princeton, 2004), Janáček as Theorist (Pendragon Press, 1994) and Martinů’s Mysterious Accident (Pendragon, 2007), as well as Classical Music: Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges (Open Book Publishers, 2021). He has also written articles on subjects such as Mozart, Brahms, film scoring, music of the Roma, exiled composers, disability and music in labor camps. He has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times, was a regular guest on Live from Lincoln Center and was The Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic (2016–17).

The recipient of numerous honors, Professor Beckerman was awarded the Dvořák Medal and the Janáček Medal by the Czech Ministry of Culture, and is also a laureate of the Czech Music Council. He was awarded the Gratias Agit Award from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Harrison Medal from the Society of Musicology in Ireland, and has twice received the Deems Taylor Award. Dr. Beckerman also received honorary doctorates from Palacký University in 2014 and from Masaryk University in 2022. Deeply committed to teaching, he received the Golden Dozen Teaching Award from NYU in 2013 and also received the George Estabrook Distinguished Alumnus Award from Hofstra University in 2012. He currently serves on the board of directors for the NYU Center for Ballet and the Kalabis Foundation; on the international advisory board of Muzikološki Zbornik; on the editorial boards of Konturen, Musicologica Olomucensis, Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland and the Journal of Film Music; as vice president of the Dvořák American Heritage Association; and as artistic adviser for the Martinů and His World Bard Music Festival. He received his B.A. in music from Hofstra University and his M.A., MPhil and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

I want to thank the search/advisory committee members for assembling an outstanding pool of candidates for this position and for their roles in recruiting Professor Beckerman:

• Christina A. Christie (chair) – Wasserman Dean of the School of Education and Information Studies and professor of education
• Jan Berry Baker – professor and vice chair, Department of Music; special assistant to the dean for faculty mentoring
• Athena N. Jackson – Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian
• Jenny Olivia Johnson – associate professor of musicology and of gender studies; associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion
• Cheryl L. Keyes – professor of ethnomusicology and of global jazz studies; professor and chair, Department of African American Studies
• Mark L. Kligman – Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music; professor of ethnomusicology and musicology; director, Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience
• Ian Krouse – distinguished professor of music
• David K. Yoo – vice provost, Institute of American Cultures; professor of Asian American studies and history; member, Chancellor’s Council on the Arts

I also wish to recognize and express my gratitude to Eileen Strempel for her distinguished service as dean since 2019, and to Robert Fink, currently special academic senior associate dean, for agreeing to serve as interim dean from June until Dean Beckerman starts this fall.

Professor Beckerman’s academic, professional and administrative experience and achievements, coupled with his UC roots, position him well to lead The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music at this pivotal moment. Recognizing the importance of the arts to our mission of higher education, Chancellor Frenk and I are confident that the school will continue to fulfill its vital role on campus and will reach new heights under Mike’s capable leadership. Please join us in congratulating him and warmly welcoming him to UCLA.

Sincerely,

Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost