Cal State L.A. names Peter McAllister as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters
Los Angeles, CA— Peter McAllister has been named dean of the College of Arts and Letters at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and will begin his new position July 1, 2011. McAllister, the current director of the School of Music at the University of Arizona (UA), will bring diverse experience to the University as a leader, professor, author and performer.
McAllister has served UA as director of the School of Music since 2005. He currently sits on the campus Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee, and authored the university’s Institute for Arts of the Americas initiative.
“I am excited to lead the top-tier faculty and staff, as well as celebrate the amazing student achievements in the College of Arts and Letters as it serves the campus vision under President [James M.] Rosser,” said McAllister. “The College is extremely well positioned as it moves to embrace the new synergies and strategic initiatives underway by Provost Ashish Vaidya and his team. I look forward to celebrating and discovering how each unit within the College intersect other disciplines on campus and, importantly, serve the community.”
As a music educator, McAllister, who received his Ph.D. in music education from Kent State University in 1995, has co-edited 11 books, presented more than 45 research papers and has published in most of the important research journals in his field. He has been appointed to the Music Educators Journal editorial committee for six years, and continues to serve as an accreditation site visitor for the National Association of Schools of Music.
Before arriving at UA, McAllister was director of the Ball State University School of Music in Indiana where he was instrumental in opening a new $21 million Music Instruction Building.
A renowned classical and jazz guitarist, McAllister has premiered more than 30 new works. His artistic abilities have been called “virtuosic” and “gifted” by the Washington Post.
“McAllister will be a tremendous asset to Cal State L.A. and within the College of Arts and Letters as it continues to expand both physically and in reputation,” said CSULA Provost Vaidya. “His gifts as an educator, advocate, and fundraiser will prove vital as he works in conjunction with faculty and staff to guide the College into the future, and his passion as a musical artist will enable him to understand the needs of the thousands of talented students who we serve here on campus.”
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The College of the Arts and Letters at Cal State L.A. includes the departments of Art, Communication Studies, English, Liberal Studies, Modern Languages and Literature, Music, Philosophy, Theatre Arts and Dance, and Television, Film and Media Studies.
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 215,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students, opening in fall 2011. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu