The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ashish Vaidya announces the appointment of Peter McAllister as dean of the College of Arts and Letters at California State University, Los Angeles, effective July 1, 2011.
Bringing diverse experience to the University as a leader, professor, author and performer, Dr. McAllister will oversee the departments of Art, Communication Studies, English, Liberal Studies, Modern Languages and Literature, Music, Theatre Arts and Dance, Philosophy, and Television, Film and Media Studies within the College of Arts and Letters.
Dr. Peter McAllister comes to Los Angeles as former Director of the University of Arizona’s School of Music. At UA, he increased their endowments in music from $6 million to $14.5 million, and was a member of the President’s Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Council. In Indiana, he assisted with the design and build of a new $21 million dollar Instruction Building at Ball State University.
As a jazz and classical guitarist, McAllister has recorded professionally, with one release as a Columbia Record-of-the-Month selection. He has premiered over 30 new works composed specifically for him, with the Washington Post calling him “virtuosic” and “gifted.”
In music education, Peter has co-edited 11 books and presented over 45 research papers. For N.A.S.M. -- the accreditation association for music -- he continues to serve as a national site evaluator. McAllister received his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, and his Ph.D. in music education from Kent State University in 1995.