School of Music Dean Paul C. Boylan will be recommended to the Regents in May to serve as vice provost for the arts. If approved, his appointment will be effective July 1.
In making the recommendation, Provost Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr. notes that the appointment is a collateral one, similar to that of John H. D’Arms’ dual responsibilities as vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.
Boylan will continue to serve as dean and also will have oversight responsibilities for the School of Art and the Museum of Art.
“We are taking this step to bring sharper focus to the arts on our campus and to facilitate strong cooperation among all of the units on campus that are concerned with the arts,” Whitaker says. “We hope to enhance the cooperation among the three units under Paul’s direct oversight, as well as engender increased cooperation and collaboration with the Department of History of Art in LS&A, with the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and with a number of units within the College of Engineering.
“We are confident that with Paul’s proven leadership capacities as well as his strong fund-raising skills the University will be strengthened by this increased attention to the arts,” Whitaker adds.
Boylan says that the construction of the Integrated Technology/Instruction Center facility on North Campus “presents an unprecedented opportunity to unite the expertise of faculty, students and staff in the visual and performing arts. This is likely to lead the University to whole new regions of creative opportunities and important research,” he says.
“The University has quite unusual strengths in the arts,” Boylan notes, “dispersed throughout LS&A and the three North Campus Schools [art, architecture and music]. If we can garner resources and identify what these groups are doing, we can foster much greater collaboration to benefit all students.
“I look forward to working with faculty in the School of Art, charting out a bright future for the school and in adding to the Museum of Art’s great strengths, as well as working with the distinguished art history faculty. Much can be brought into play in strengthening the School of Art and particularly in enriching learning in that program,” Boylan adds.
In related action, Whitaker has asked School of Art faculty to identify individuals within the school and the University community who might serve a three-to-five-year term as interim dean.
That post has been held by John H. Stephenson for the past two years, “and we all owe him a large debt for his past service as well as his future service to the University and the School of Art.”
Boylan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. from the U-M. He was a teaching fellow and instructor prior to being appointed assistant professor of music in 1969. He was named associate professor in 1972 and professor in 1977.
He served as director of the University of Michigan Divisions at the National Music Camp at Interlochen in 1971–75 and as associate dean of academic affairs in 1974–79. He has been dean since 1979.
