KU names second, third finalists for dean of fine arts

LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas has named two more finalists for dean of the School of Fine Arts.

Robert Shay will interview March 30 through April 1, and Daniel Reeves will interview March 31 through April 2. Both candidates will give public presentations, meet with the search committee and senior administrators for the university and the school, and tour the Lied Center and the Spencer Museum of Art.

Shay's public presentation will be at 3:15 p.m. Monday, March 31, at Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall. Reeves' public presentation will be at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1.

The university is conducting a nationwide search to replace Toni-Marie Montgomery, who is leaving KU in June to become dean of the School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Five finalists will be interviewed for the KU position. Shay and Reeves join Donald Van Horn, dean of fine arts at Marshall University, as announced finalists.

Shay has been dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky in Lexington since 1998. He previously was dean of the Herron School of Art at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis (1994-98) and graduate chair for the Department of Art at Ohio State University (1988-94) in Columbus. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from New York University in New York City, and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Reeves has been dean of the College of Fine Arts at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro since 1999. He oversees the Fowler Center for Visual and Performing Arts. Reeves also is interim executive director for international programs and adviser for the university's Fulbright program.

Previously Reeves was at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he was associate dean of the School of Fine Arts (1994-99), interim chair of the Department of Music (1998-99) and chair of the Department of Art Education (1978-94). Before that, Reeves directed the doctoral program in art and graduate studies for the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Ball State University (1971-78) in Muncie, Ind.

Reeves holds a doctorate in art education, art history and aesthetics from Illinois State University at Bloomington/Normal. He earned his master's degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh and his bachelor's degree from West Liberty State College in West Liberty, W.Va.

More than 1,400 students are enrolled in the KU School of Fine Arts' 40 degree programs within its three academic departments: art, design, and music and dance.

Established as an academic unit in 1891, the KU school sponsors exhibitions and performances in the Art and Design Gallery, Swarthout Recital Hall, Bales Organ Recital Hall and the Lied Center of Kansas, which was named among the top U.S. university arts presenters by International Arts Manager Magazine in 1999.

The departments of art and design are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and both rank among the top 35 of nearly 300 accredited institutions. The Department of Music and Dance is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Its master of music degree is ranked 26th among 600 musical institutions throughout the nation by U.S. News and World Report.