The Warner Imig Administration (1951-1978)

In 1951 Warner Imig became Dean of the College.  At that time, the faculty had expanded from the three at the beginning of Dunham’s administration to twenty.  Imig is the only Dean to have been chosen from the existing faculty, and his administration was the longest, running to 1978.  During this time the faculty and student body more than doubled and doctoral programs were begun: the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in 1953 and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD): Music Education in 1964, Musicology in 1966.  The doctoral programs necessitated two new divisions: History and Literature in 1966, and Music Education in 1970. In 1970, the governance of the College was changed from appointments made by the Dean to an elected Faculty Council with various subcommittees, and an Executive Committee consisting of the heads of divisions.

From the beginning, Imig strove to get the College out of its now antiquated and cramped home.  By 1954 the University heeded his call, and the present home of the College was built on Eighteenth Street at the end of Euclid Ave.  With seemingly adequate classroom and practice room space, faculty offices, a 500-seat recital hall, and supporting administrative and workshop spaces, the College nevertheless retained facilities in both Macky Auditorium and Norlin Library.  The mortar had hardly dried in the new building before Imig commenced new appeals for additional space in his annual reports.  Success came at the end of his administration, when a three-story north addition was added to the original one-story music building.  In addition to more classroom, practice room, and office space on the first and second floors, the north addition included an opera workshop/orchestra rehearsal room on first basement floor, and the music library on the third floor.  The library had heretofore been housed in the University’s central Norlin Library, but it had now grown to a substantial size with the ever-expanding degree programs and needed an independent space of its own.   At the time of Dean Imig’s retirement in 1978 both the original building and addition were named Imig Hall in honor of his service.           

During the 1970s, the College of Music secured permission from the College of Arts and Science to begin a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree.  In time this degree grew both in numbers and importance because it provided an important niche between the Bachelor of Music degree for students seeking a performing career and the Bachelor of Music Education degree for those wishing to become music teachers.  Because the BA in Music degree had much lower performing requirements than either of the other bachelors’ degrees, many students found sufficient electives to carry an additional degree in another college.   

The doctoral programs were the major graduate curriculum addition made during Imig’s time with the Doctor of Musical Arts making a major impact not only on the graduate program but also the graduate/undergraduate balance of students in the College.  Starting with major emphases in voice, keyboard, and violin, it expanded rapidly to include all instruments as well as various programs in pedagogy.  Enrollment in these programs eventually was second only to that of the undergraduate degrees. This factor enhanced the quality of the College’s various performing groups, chamber music, and student recitals.  By 1970, the College’s entire graduate program had become sufficiently large enough to lead to the appointment of an Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.     

Imig encouraged his faculty to try new programs.  Performance groups were expanded to include a University Percussion Ensemble, Collegium Musicum, and New Music Ensemble.   The world-famous Hungarian String Quartet became artists in residence.  Opera, which had received sporadic attention earlier, now took on a modest schedule of regular performances.  Comprehensive Musicianship programs were begun in Music Theory and Music Education; an  Electronic Music Studio was initiated; and a Group Piano Environments piano pedagogy program was started. The Comprehensive Musicianship and Group Piano Environments programs were later discontinued, but the Electronic Music Studio continues to this day.   Invited guest faculty included the LaSalle Quartet, Alfred Deller, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Paul Yoder, Thor Johnson, Roger Wagner, and numerous others.        

1927-1951 << 1951-1978 >> 1978-1993