Home > News > Daniel M. Neuman Named Dean of UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture

Daniel M. Neuman Named Dean of UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture

Carolyn Campbell (ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu) (310) 825-6540
For Immediate Use Wednesday, October 09, 1996.

Daniel M. Neuman, noted ethnomusicologist and arts administrator has been named dean of UCLA¡¦s School of the Arts and Architecture (SOAA). The appointment was announced by Chancellor Charles E. Young to be effective September 1, 1996.

"Daniel Neuman is a highly-respected ethnomusicologist, a dedicated teacher and an experienced arts administrator. This combination of talent and leadership will serve the School superbly as we work together to create the preeminent academic program for professional artists, musicians, designers, scholars and architects and to broaden our ongoing commitment to the community through outstanding museum and performing arts programming," said Chancellor Young.

Neuman, 52, joined UCLA in 1994 as visiting professor in the Department of Ethnomusicology and received his permanent appointment as professor of Ethnomusicology in Fall of 1995. He served a dual role as acting dean of the SOAA and chair of the Department of Ethnomusicology for one year. Prior to his arrival at UCLA, Neuman spent 10 years as director of the School of Music at the University of Washington. As dean, Dr. Neuman will oversee six academic departments: Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design, Ethnomusicolgy, Music, and World Arts and Cultures. Public arts programs under his direction include UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, and the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts.

The appointment of Dr. Neuman is the latest in a series of actions to strengthen UCLA¡¦s commitment to arts education and public programming. These began in1990 with the division of the College of Fine Arts into two schools (The School of Theater Film and Television and the School of the Arts) that were designed to provide professional study and practice of the arts in a graduate-oriented curriculum. With the creation of the School of the Arts and Architecture in 1994, as a result of Chancellor Young¡¦s Professional Schools Restructuring Initiative (PSRI), UCLA renewed its goal to become a major research university to offer a diverse and comprehensive arts curriculum and public arts programs while maintaining world class academic standards.

"The School of the Arts and Architecture plays a vital role in the cultural and artistic life of the campus and community." said Neuman "Among its graduates are some of the most accomplished artists, musicians, scholars and architects in the local, national and international cultural arena. I feel privileged to have this opportunity to lead the School into the 21st century and to help teach and train the next generation of cultural and artistic leaders."

To that end, some of the Neuman¡¦s top priorities for the School are to incorporate new technologies through the expansion of the Center for Digital Arts, to provide greater scholarship support and artistic opportunities for students, to improve facilities¡¦ infrastructure and to strengthen links to the community.

UCLA has had a long term commitment to the cultural life of Los Angeles and the growth and understanding of the arts locally and globally. This commitment extends beyond the boundaries of the campus to impact students, local residents, and visitors. Some of those individuals involved include:

„h UCLA alumni currently serve in leadership roles in the arts community including arts patron and co-chair of UCLA¡¦s School of the Arts and Architecture Board of Visitors, Daniel Belin (Linda, double check with Jan - she thought he was an alum but we didn¡¦t find a graduation year on PAIS), president and CEO of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Andrea Rich and Harold Williams, president and CEO of the J.Paul Getty Trust.

„h The current faculty includes artists, musicians and architects of international renown: Lari Pittman, Nancy Rubins, Paul McCarthy, Charles Ray and Chris Burden, Nati Kano, Alexander Treger, Kenny Burrell, Dagmar Richter, Craig Hodgetts, Barton Meyers and Mark Mack.

The UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, celebrating its 60th anniversary is one of the leading presenters in the nation and has brought the Los Angeles audience outstanding world-class performers including Yo-Yo Ma and The Grand Kabuki Theater in addition to commissioning new work by Pina Bausch, Bill T. Jones, and Twyla Tharp.

„h UCLA established the first university dance department in the country. Recently the curriculum changed and has been incorporated in to the new Department of World Arts and Cultures, the first department of its kind in the nation featuring outstanding faculty including director Peter Sellars and dancer, actor, choreographer David Rousseve.

"At the School of the Arts and Architecture students have unparalleled opportunities to learn from and interact with distinguished faculty who rank among the most innovative artists, scholars, and architects of our time. With increasing collaborations between departments the potential for creative interaction is tremendous," Neuman said.

"In addition ,the School¡¦s public units bring Los Angeles a host of extraordinary exhibitions, educational programs and presentations by the world¡¦s most outstanding performing artists, thus increasing the global opportunities for exchange and understanding in the arts," Neuman added. "As we enter a new age of possibilities, of the information superhighway and the Internet, of digital technologies, and virtual realities, we, at UCLA are firmly in the forefront of that new era."

A continued involvement in multimedia development has garnered Dr. Neuman several grants as well as a contract with Simon & Schuster for the development of the "World Music Navigator," a computerized ethnographic atlas of world music traditions. One of his largest grants was a series awarded by the Smithsonian Institution for the Archive and Research Center for Ethnomusicology of the American Institute of Indian Studies between 1981 and 1991. As one of his first initiatives in the role as acting dean of SOAA, Daniel Neuman moved the Center for Digital Arts from idea to reality. The Center¡¦s mission is to provide an artistic, intellectual, and physical environment to support the development of a collaborative community of artists and scholars engaged in creative work utilizing the medium of digital information. For this project he spearheaded a faculty and staff team to draft a proposal to Intel Corporation, which approved a major gift this past autumn to the Center of equipment and funds totalling $350,000.

As a former student of the violin, Neuman became particularly interested in the music of India and has become proficient on the Sarangi (a bowed instrument of India). Making Indian music his principal focus, Neuman has conducted extensive fieldwork in India for the past quarter century.

Neuman enjoys an active role in lecturing both nationally and internationally on ethnomusicology and the anthropology of India. Additionally, he has written and co-edited two books, "The Life of Music in North India: The Organization of an Artistic Tradition," published by University of Chicago Press, and "Ethnomusicology and Modern Music History," published by the University of Illinois Press. Neuman has also published numerous articles on ethnomusicology. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Illinois in 1974.

One of 12 professional schools housed at UCLA, the School of the Arts and Architecture degree programs include the bachelor of arts, master of arts, master of architecture, master of music and doctor of philosophy and doctor of muiscal arts, as well as a master of fine arts with specializations in studio art, choreography, musical composition or musical/dance performance. The school has approximately 100 faculty and an estimated current enrollment of almost 1000 majors.



-UCLA-

Contact: Carolyn Campbell
Phone: (310) 825-6540
Email: ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu