Five visiting campus as candidates to head College of Fine Arts

KALAMAZOO—Western Michigan University officials have announced the names of five candidates who will visit campus May 29 through June 6, as candidates for the position of dean of the College of Fine Arts.

Each of the candidates will make a public presentation during his or her visit. The candidates have been asked to describe how they would support WMU's mission to be learner centered, discovery driven and globally engaged. Also, considering anticipated future trends in the arts professions, each candidate has been asked to describe how the University must shape its College of Fine Arts over the next 10 years to prepare its students for success. All of the presentations will take place in 2020 Fetzer Center.

The finalists, their current positions, and the days and times of their presentations are:

• Dr. John H. Guthmiller, interim associate dean for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 29;
• Daniel Guyette, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts at Western Washington University, 2 p.m. Monday, June 3;
• Adrian R. Tió, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 4;
• Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, inaugural director for the New Zealand School of Music for Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington, 2 p.m., Wednesday, June 5.
• Dr. Bryan W. DePoy, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts at Youngstown State University, 2 p.m., Thursday, June 6.

The successful candidate will replace Dr. Margaret Merrion, who is retiring at the end of June after 13 years as dean.

Dr. John H. Guthmiller

Guthmiller has been at VCU since 2000, starting as acting chair and then chair of the Department of Music. He was appointed interim associated dean for student and program development in 2010, and moved into his current position as interim associate dean for academic affairs in 2011. In this role, he supervises four department chairs, four program directors, a librarian and registrar at the branch campus in Doha, Qatar. Prior to coming to VCU, he was artistic director of the Williamsburg Choral Guild and music director of the Richmond Concert Chorale. He previously was at VCU as acting assistant chair for its Department of Music for a stint from 1998 to 1999. Guthmiller earned his bachelor's degree from Murray State University, master's degree from Florida State University and doctoral degree from the University of Colorado.

Daniel Guyette

As dean of the College of Fine Arts at Western Washington University since 2009, Guyette oversees the departments of art, design, theatre and dance, and music as well as the Western Gallery and the top-10 nationally ranked Outdoor Sculpture Collection. He previously was dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Dakota for five years and chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Northern Colorado. He was a full professor in his department at UNC and earlier in his career, served as an assistant professor at both Utah State University and Guilford College. An award winning designer, Guyette has worked professionally for more than 25 theatre companies and universities. He earned his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and a master's degree from Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson

Hudson has been inaugural dean of the New Zealand School of Music since 2006, overseeing music programs through the doctoral level that serve more than 600 students and have a faculty of 140. She also holds the rank of professor at both Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington. She started her career academic career in 1991 as an assistant professor of music at the University of Virginia and was promoted to tenured associate professor of music in 1998. Hudson studied piano at both the Manhattan School of Music and the Vienna Conservatory before earning her bachelor's degree from Smith College. She earned both her master's and doctoral degrees from from Cornell University in 1990 and 1993, respectively.

Adrian R. Tió

Since 2007, Tió has held his current position at UMass Dartmouth, a National Association of Schools of 
Art and Design accredited program with more than 95 faculty and 12 staff members, serving 700 majors in four degrees and four certificate programs. Previously, he was director of the School of Art at Northern Illinois University, chair of the Department of Art at Indiana State University and held several positions at Bowling Green State University. He started his career at BGSU as an instructor in 1979 was a full professor by 1994. Tio studied at Carnegie-Mellon University and York Academy of Art before earning his bachelor's degree from Temple University. He completed post-baccalaureate study at Tyler School of Art during a study abroad program in Rome, and earned his master's degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Bryan W. DePoy

DePoy has been in his current role at Youngstown State since 2009, and he also holds an appointment as tenured professor in the Dana School of Music there. In addition, he is serving as interim dean of Graduate Studies and Research at YSU. The college he directs has 168 faculty and professional staff and an enrollment of about 1,000. Prior to joining YSU, he was at Southeastern Louisiana University from 2004 to 2009, serving first as graduate coordinator for music and dramatic arts, then interim director of SLU's Northshore School of the Arts, assistant dean and interim dean of SLU's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. He also held an administrative post at Delta State University for a year. DePoy earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University's School of Music in 1991, a master's from the University of New Mexico in 1993 and a doctoral degree from Florida State University in 1998.

More information about the candidates will be posted early this week at wmich.edu/provost/announcements/#cfa.