New Gifts
The Zimmerman Foundation’s $1.65 million gift to the School of Music endows Chair and Fellowship in Music Education
Edward Rath, associate director
The School of Music received its first active endowed chair this past year through the generosity of the Vernon K. and Marilyn Pflederer Zimmerman Foundation.
Marilyn Zimmerman, a world-renowned author and teacher, received both master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois. She later was a member of the School of Music faculty at various times in a career that also included faculty appointments at Case Western Reserve, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Temple universities. Her husband, Vernon, was known throughout the world for his leadership in the field of international accounting, and he served as Dean of the UIUC College of Commerce and Business Administration for 15 years. Marilyn died in 1995, and
Vernon in 1998.
Marilyn Zimmerman made her mark in the world of music education through her research concerning the relationship of children’s musical activities and the role perception plays in musical-cognitive development, and seeking to learn how this might influence and improve instruction in the music classroom. “Her studies were pioneering and remain as a standard reference for anyone investigating children’s musical cognition,” said FAA associate dean Eve Harwood, herself a colleague and close personal friend of Marilyn’s.
Furthermore, Dr. Zimmerman was a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, a prolific writer, and editor of the Bulletin of the Council on Research in Music Education. “She authored a pamphlet for the MENC called, Musical Characteristics of Children,” said Harwood. “It was a landmark in that it was written for practicing music teachers, explaining how children conceptually organize music.
Marilyn paid practicing music teachers the respect of writing a thorough review of the literature, including all the relevant citations, in language a working teacher could understand and use as a basis for designing his or her own curriculum.”
In speaking about Dr. Zimmerman, Dean Harwood told a group of music educators that “‘Gentility’ is the best description I can find for the quality Marilyn brought to scholarly life. In the first issue of the Bulletin that she edited, Marilyn said, ‘civility is not inconsistent with intellectual integrity.’ She was unfailingly courteous and genuinely championed the research of her colleagues and students.”
Last year, a faculty search committee undertook the daunting task of identifying someone of world renown who could assume duties as the first Zimmerman Professor of Music Education. The person appointed to hold the Zimmerman chair is Dr. Gary McPherson. Dr. McPherson earned his Diploma in Music Education at the New South Wales Conservatorium; the Master of Music Education at Indiana University; and earned his L.T.C.L., F.T.C.L., and Ph.D. at the University of Sydney. His research interests include psychological aspects of musical behavior, performance skill, composition, improvisation, instrumental pedagogy, motivation and self-regulation, giftedness and talent in music, and music education curriculum development. He is current president of the International Society for Music Education, former national president of the Australian Society for Music Education, a member of the Australian Music and Psychology Seminar, and of the Advisory Panel for the Callaway International Resource Centre for Music Education at the University of Western Australia. He has also served as a teacher education advisor for the Australian Music Examinations Board. McPherson is editor of Research Studies in Music Education and a member of the editorial boards of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, Music Education Research, British Journal of Music Education, International Journal of Education and the Arts, Research and Issues in Music Education, Journal of Research in Music Education, and Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education. He is also a member of the International Society for Music Education Research Commission. In 2003 and 2004 he worked as the professor of creative arts at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Dr. McPherson will be joining the School of Music faculty in January 2005, at the completion of his association with the HKIE.
The School of Music is most grateful to the Zimmerman Foundation and Mrs. Joyce Zimmerman for the tremendous faith they have placed in the School. We look forward to fulfilling the responsibilities of this trust as we enter the 21st century in a position of strength, greatly enhanced by this gift, in the field of music education.
