Job Announcement: Dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

UCLA Dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites inquiries, nominations and applications for the position of dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music was approved by The Regents of the University of California in 2016 as the first music school in the university system. In 2007, a generous gift from the accomplished and influential musician provided a key incentive for initiating a comprehensive planning process leading to the school’s creation. The school seeks to create a transformative model for music schools, esteeming all musical traditions, promoting a balanced emphasis on scholarship and music performance. One of UCLA’s 12 professional schools, the school has 50 full-time, tenure-track faculty, along with 35 full-time career staff, and annually hires 70 part-time temporary faculty (adjuncts and lecturers). The school has a student body of 460, who earn a liberal arts degree (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) or a professional degree (M.M., D.M.A.). Last year, 125 degrees were awarded. The school comprises three top-rated departments — ethnomusicology, music and musicology — each of which successfully competes for students with top schools across the country. The faculty are recognized for their contributions in scholarship, performance, composition, music education and music industry. Ethnomusicology embraces the scholarly study and performance of world music from such countries as China, India and Mexico and regions such as the Middle East. The department also operates the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive and oversees an outstanding collection of musical instruments from many parts of the world. Music offers programs in intensive individual studio instruction, thorough theoretical training and full participation in outstanding large and small ensembles. Focusing on the composition and performance of Western classical music, its chamber, orchestral, opera, choral and contemporary music programs offer a full schedule of public concerts at UCLA and off-campus venues. Musicology is home to cultural theorists and music scholars who specialize in traditional European and American music, as well as film music, punk, Motown and rock ‘n roll; the department also administers the school’s music industry programs. The school includes the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and operates four scholarly centers (Center for Latino Arts, Center for Music Innovation, Center for Musical Humanities, World Music Center), as well as the Lowell Milken Fund for American Jewish Music. The school operates a recording studio and two theaters for concerts, recitals and public lectures. Located at the heart of campus, the school is housed in the Schoenberg Music Building and the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center. The Music Library, located in the Schoenberg Music Building, houses one of the largest academic music collections in North America. The school has an annual operating budget of about $23 million, of which approximately 80 percent is provided by state general funds and student tuition. The school raises about $4.5 million annually in philanthropic and other external support, and has endowed funds of $50 million.

As the chief executive and academic officer for the school, the dean sets the standard for intellectual engagement and accomplishment by providing strategic vision for and operational leadership of the academic programs. The dean works to advance scholarship and education, promoting initiatives within and outside UCLA; enhancing excellence through diversity in educational programs and faculty and student recruitment; and linking the work of the faculty and students to other disciplines, communities and interests within and outside the academy. He/she serves as the school’s public voice, articulating its contributions to local, state, regional, national and international communities, pursuing an aggressive development program to build the school’s resources and managing its finances and facilities. Reporting to the executive vice chancellor and provost, he/she serves on the deans council and the council of professional school deans, collaborating with the chancellor, executive vice chancellor and provost, vice chancellors and vice provosts, deans and department chairs at UCLA and across the University of California system.

Ideal candidates will be nationally and/or internationally recognized with demonstrated leadership and administrative experience and a strong commitment to music education and scholarship. Minimum requirements include a record of distinguished scholarly accomplishment and/or comparable achievements in music; significant organizational leadership and administrative responsibility; demonstrated success in external relations and fundraising, particularly with alumni; an established record of advancing diversity; and credentials that merit appointment at the rank of full professor.

Situated on 419 acres, five miles from the Pacific Ocean, UCLA is enriched by the cultural diversity of the dynamic greater Los Angeles area, as well as the geographic advantages of Southern California. One of the world’s preeminent public research universities, UCLA is an international leader in breadth and quality of academic, research, health care, wellness, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs, with more than 4,000 faculty members who teach approximately 40,000 students in the College of Letters and Science and 12 professional schools. UCLA is consistently ranked among the top institutions nationally for research funding, having generated more than $1 billion in research grants and contracts annually in five of the past seven years.

Confidential review of applications, nominations and expressions of interest will begin immediately and will continue until an appointment is made. To be ensured full consideration, please email a letter of interest and curriculum vitae to HASOMDean@imsearch.com by September 10, 2018. Address inquiries to our Isaacson Miller consultants David Bellshaw, Brett Barbour and Cati Mitchell-Crossley (HASOMDean@imsearch.com or 415-655-4900).

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy – http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct