I am pleased to announce the appointment of James Mobberley, D.M.A., as Interim Dean of UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and Dance, effective July 1. Jim has been an outstanding contributor to the success of the Conservatory since joining the composition faculty in 1983. I am confident that Jim’s appointment will provide solid leadership during this interim period.

Jim is currently Curators’ Professor of Music, a position he has held since 1999, and will continue in that role. He also is a winner of the prestigious Rome Prize Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Jim has a significant history of leadership and community engagement. From 1991-1999, he served as the Kansas City Symphony's first Composer-in-Residence, a position that expanded to include the State Ballet of Missouri and the Paseo Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts, the local arts magnet high school. He also held guest residencies and workshops at the Taiwan National Symphony, the Wellesley College Composers Conference, the Ft. Smith Symphony, the Composers Forum of the East at Bennington College, and at more than 30 other colleges and universities throughout the United States.

In addition to the Rome Prize and Guggenheim, Jim’s national fellowships, grants, and awards have included the Lee Ettelson Composers Award and several National Endowment for the Arts awards. Among his international awards are the 2001 Van Cliburn Composers Invitational, the 2003 Electronic Miniatures Competition (Spain), and the International Composers Competition of the Polish Section – ISCM. Regionally, Jim has been honored by the Missouri Arts Council, the Midwest Composers Competition, the MidAmerica Arts Alliance, the University of Missouri, and the Mrs. Ewing M. Kauffman Excellence in Teaching Award.

Jim earned his doctorate at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1982. Before joining UMKC’s Conservatory, he taught composition and electronic music at the Cleveland Institute and Webster University in St. Louis. His CV is available at http://conservatory.umkc.edu/documents/mobberleycv.pdf. Please join me in welcoming Jim in this interim role.

A national search for a permanent Dean of the Conservatory will start this fall.

Betty Drees, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Interim Provost