2020 College Report

ret i red faculty and staff cont inued RET I RED AFTER 17 YEARS GORDON JONE S | Senior Lecturer , Music Gordon Jones moved to Texas from his native UK in 2000, where he taught in universities for 25 years. He taught in the School of Music and the Dance Division at Texas State and served as musical director and composer for many Teatre Department productions. Because of his diverse interests and experience in the arts, he has composed, directed, choreographed, performed, written and occasionally blufed his way through a mountain of projects, ranging from large-scale music-theatre works to a book on Balinese music, and directing the University’s very own Balinese gamelan ensemble, Gamelan Lipi Awan. RET I RED AFTER 14 YEARS PAUL A B I RD | Senior Lecturer , Music Paula Bird is a violinist and pianist. A former member of the prestigious Artisan Quartet, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Austin Lyric Opera, Bird currently performs as frst violinist in the Austin Symphony and Associate Concertmaster with the Sunriver Festival (Oregon). Bird taught Applied Violin at Texas State and performed with the faculty TreSorelle Trio and Faculty Chamber Players. An avid proponent of ability development and the Suzuki Method of Talent Education, Bird maintains the popular blog and podcast “Teach Suzuki.” RET I RED AFTER 12 YEARS EL I Z ABETH CL ARK | Senior Lecturer , Journalism and Mass Communication Following a 30-year career as an editor, reporter and freelance writer in Chicago and Texas, Beth Clark earned a master of journalism degree at UNT. At Texas State, she pioneered online courses in copy editing and content management, and taught news reporting & writing, information gathering & analysis, and media writing. She directed Mass Comm Week 2013-15 and was campus test monitor for the annual Dow Jones Editing Internship program. A 2017 faculty workload release took her to Prague, where she began ongoing research into the WWII story of Lidice, Czech Republic. RET I RED AFTER 12 YEARS THOMA S CL ARK | Director , Music Tomas Clark began his college teaching career at Te University of Michigan in 1971, earning a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition in 1976. He went on to teach at Indiana University, Pacifc Lutheran University, the National Music Camp in Interlochen, and the University of North Texas. He served as Associate Dean for Academic Afairs of the UNT College of Music and from 2004- 08 as Dean of the School of Music at the North Carolina School of the Arts and as Executive Director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute. At Texas State, where he has served as Director of the School of Music since 2008, the years 2016-20 have been productive, completing 26 new compositions. RET I RED AFTER 11 YEARS in memor i am J IM PR I CE | Associate Professor of Practice , Theatre and Dance Jim Price joined the faculty in the Department of Teatre and Dance at Texas State in 2009 after 30 years in show business, to help launch a new BFA program in Musical Teatre. In 2010 he was named Head of the M.A. Playwriting program, and in 2015 he created an MFA program in Dramatic Writing. His students have won 10 national awards in playwriting from the Kennedy Center American College Teatre festival during that time, as well as placing over 50 regional fnalists, 33 regional winners and 17 national semifnalists. In 2014, Dr. Price received the College Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2018 he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Service. JOAN HAYS Theatre and Dance 1938 - 2020 DR . JOAN HAY S | Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Dance Dr. Hays graduated from Grand Junction High School, and went on to earn a B.S. in dance at Te University of Utah, a M.S. in dance at the University of Wisconsin, and her doctorate in physical education at the University of Texas. Dr. Hays taught at Central Michigan University from 1961-63, the University of Wisconsin from 1963-64, and at Southwest Texas State University/Texas State University from 1964-2003. She was named Distinguished Professor of Dance Emeritus in 2007 in recognition of her exemplary dedication to the development and growth of the Dance Program at Texas State, and her extraordinary service to the University. During her 39 years at Texas State, Dr. Hays developed the Dance program, achieved Texas Education Agency certifcation, and prepared 18 courses, many of which are still taught today. She was the chair or member of 69 committees, including serving as Chair of the Faculty Senate from 1999-2001. In 1998 Dr. Hays obtained approval for a bachelor of science degree with a dance major. Mentoring more than 2,000 undergraduate students she earned the afection and respect of students, and colleagues, many of whom she mentored in pedagogy and research. A strong advocate of the Erick Hawkins Dance Technique, Dr. Hays was awarded a $14,000 National Dance Association Touring Grant for his dance company in 1978. Her book, Modern Dance: A Biomechanical Approach to Teaching , was sanctioned by Mr. Hawkins, and continues in use today. Her prolifc scholarly and creative eforts led to her being named a Presidential Seminar Honoree in March, 1983. Between 1965 and 2002, Dr. Hays presented over 37 invited papers and lectures, and choreographed and/or performed in over 100 dances. Her brilliance as an educator was noted with 4 Faculty Senate Teaching Awards. As a long-time member of the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (TAHPERD), Joan was named a TAHPERD Scholar for 1986-87, College Dance Educator of the Year in 1995, and was the Inaugural Recipient of the Dance Heritage Award in 2012. She was also named to the Hall of Fame for the Texas Dance Educators Association in 2002. 22 . COLLEGE REPORT 2020 F i r s t gen / N e x t gen . 23