KU taps Colby native, Wichita dean to lead School of Fine Arts

LAWRENCE -- A music psychologist who has held leadership roles at the universities of Iowa and Arizona will return to his alma mater as the dean of the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor David Shulenburger announced today.

Steven K. Hedden, a Colby native and currently dean of the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University, will begin his new position July 1. He succeeds Toni-Marie Montgomery, who is departing to become dean of music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

"Steve Hedden brings more than two decades of experience at top Association of American Universities arts schools in Arizona and Iowa to KU," said Shulenburger. "That experience ideally prepares him to build on the wonderful work done by Dean Montgomery and further the strong national reputation of KU's fine arts school."

KU's School of Fine Arts provides a premiere arts education to more than 1,400 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in the performing and visual arts, visual art education, music therapy and music education. It offers more than 40 degree programs within its three academic departments: art, design, and music and dance. The school also operates the Bales Organ Recital Hall and the Lied Center of Kansas performance hall, which was named among the top U.S. university arts presenters by International Arts Manager Magazine.

Hedden, who earned three degrees in music education at KU, was named dean at Wichita State in 2002. He had been at the University of Arizona since 1987, serving as College of Fine Arts vice dean for academics and research since 2000. His other positions at Arizona included acting dean, interim director of the Peter Treistman Fine Arts Center for New Media, College of Fine Arts associate dean for academic affairs, and professor and coordinator of music education.

He also taught for 15 years at the University of Iowa, six years of which were as chair of the music education department. His career includes teaching a year at KU in 1970-71 and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1971-72. He was an elementary and secondary instrumental and general music teacher in DeSoto public schools from 1964 to 1969.

"KU's School of Fine Arts has a well-deserved reputation, nationally and internationally, for the quality of its programs, and both Dean (Peter) Thompson and Dean Montgomery have provided outstanding leadership for the school in recent years," Hedden said. "I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with my new colleagues to enhance the school's record of accomplishments by faculty, students and alumni."

Hedden's areas of interest include psychology of music, behavioral research in music, foundations of music education and curriculum development in music.

He has published more than 50 articles in professional journals. He is the author of chapters that appear in the Psychology of Music Handbook and the Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning. He has made more than 50 presentations at international, national, state and local conferences or workshops.

Hedden was born and raised in Colby, where his mother, Mary E. Hedden, still resides. He graduated from high school in 1960 and went on to earn bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in music education from KU in 1964, 1969 and 1971, respectively.

KU's 112-year-old School of Fine Arts was one of the first national institutions to offer professional degrees in the arts.

The master of fine arts program is ranked 54th among the nearly 300 accredited institutions. A multi-million-dollar renovation of and addition to Murphy Hall, dedicated at a special ceremony in February 2001, has added 52,000 square feet to the existing space, including 12,000 square feet for the new Music and Dance Library.

The departments of art and design are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The art department sponsors a thriving visiting artist program, in which students and faculty collaborate to bring to campus leading regional, national and international artists. Additionally, the art department participates in international faculty and student exchanges with the Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent, England, and the Edinburgh College of Art in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Department of Design offers the Hallmark Symposium, which brings internationally recognized designers to campus yearly. The Department of Design's Center for Design Research facilitates faculty and student collaboration with industry and institutional partners.

Through collaborative programs with the School of Fine Arts and the departments of theatre & film and art history, students can earn degrees in a variety of other related areas, such as theatre design, scenography and museum education.