John W. Richmond

John W. Richmond was appointed tenured Professor and Dean of the College of Music at the University of North Texas on August 1, 2016. He began his second, five-year term as Dean on August 1, 2021, and will begin his third, five-year term as Dean on August 2, 2026. Previously, Richmond served as Professor and Director of the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL; 2003-2016) and as Professor and in various administrative appointments in the School of Music at the University of South Florida-Tampa (USF; 1987-2003).

During Dean Richmond’s tenure at UNT, the College of Music has …

• Launched a college-wide strategic planning initiative,
• Reversed previous enrollment declines, increasing the College enrollment by 10 percent by Fall 2025,
• Secured approval and funding from the UNT Office of Research and Innovation for a college-wide faculty development initiative to pair as mentors UNT Guggenheim Fellows in music with UNT music faculty currently seeking Guggenheim fellowships. Thus far, two UNT music faculty have been awarded Guggenheim Fellowships -- Sungji Hongand Panayiotis Kokoras,
• Secured approval and deployed the “Accept’d” CRM platform for all College of Music camp/workshop/college applications and registrations,
• Launched a Media Composer-in-Residency for film/TV composer Bruce Broughton, and subsequently secured the donation of all of Bruce Broughton’s compositions at the UNT Willis Library to create the Bruce Broughton Collection,
• Secured institutional support to fund 4 full-tuition undergraduate string quartets in the College of Music,
• In partnership with UNT System, completed a transition audit of all COM financial affairs,
• Secured $300K in institutional funding and completed a facilities-programming project for a renovation and expansion of the UNT music facilities, utilizing the team of BRW, HGA, and Kirkegaard Associates,
• Secured $12M in facilities funding to renovate the Commander Nicholas and Anna Ricco Music Dean's Suite, the Spec's Charitable Foundation Courtyard, the Choral/Recital Room, the Recital Hall, the Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater, Lab West, the Spec’s Charitable Foundation Research & Recording Lab, and the Hoblitzelle Foundation Dolby Atmos^TM Digital Orchestration Lab,
• Secured $700K in institutional funding to address accreditation concerns regarding facilities,
• Completed 54 music faculty searches, including 11 new tenure-track faculty lines,
• Completed 20 staff searches, including 3 new staff lines,
• Replaced the annual College of Music alumni magazine with daily posts on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkIn, reaching a subscriber base of nearly 50,000 weekly,
• Created award-winning welcome/recruitment videos for the College including Addy’s, Telly’s, and a Lone-Star Emmy.
• Achieved both Best Music Business School (8 consecutive years from Billboard Magazine) and Best Music Schools in the World (The Hollywood Reporter) accolades,
• Completed the reappointment reviews of all 8 division (department) chairs and associate deans,
• Appointed/on-boarded two new Associate Deans for Operations, a new Assistant Dean for Business and Finance, and 7 new division chairs (Conducting & Ensembles, Instrumental Studies, Jazz Studies, Keyboard Studies, Music Education, Music History / Theory / Ethnomusicology, and Vocal Studies)
• Responded comprehensively to the COVID-19 pandemic,
• Launched new artistic/scholarly initiatives with institutions and artists in Austria, China, The Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Thailand, and Wales,
• Provided funding for a graduate woodwind quintet, a graduate brass quintet, and a piano trio in our Center for Chamber Music Studies,
• Worked in partnership with UNT's residential high-school Texas Academy of Math and Science (TAMS) to create a new music track within it,
• Expanded College of Music high-definition webcasting capabilities from one concert venue to six,
• Secured a $2.8 million contract with the Dallas Independent School District for a Virtual Private Lessons Program,
• Sought and secured re-accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and
• Increased its music endowments by 166 percent over the last nine years.

For a summary of current rankings for the UNT College of Music, please see https://www.unt.edu/rankings/college-music.

New curricula in the College of Music since 2016 include the undergraduate Music Electronics concentration in Composition Studies, the BA in Critical Studies in Music and Society, the MBA in Music Business (offered in partnership with our G. Brint Ryan College of Business), the BA in Commercial Music degree (tracks to include General, Music Business, Music for Media, and Production), the Commercial Music minor, and the Music Business minor. A curricular plan for BA blending Music Electronics and Computer Science is in development now.

During his tenure at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Richmond guided the Glenn Korff School of Music (GKSOM) in the development of a strategic plan, the successful application for re-accreditation to the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the successful application for initial accreditation to the National Association of Schools of Dance, the creation of new MM and DMA degree programs in Jazz Studies, the creation of a new Ph.D. degree in Music, the creation of a new string quartet residency, the recruitment of the Chiara String Quartet to occupy that residency, the creation of 8 new faculty lines, and the completion of 22 faculty searches. Finally, Dr. Richmond helped UNL and the University of Nebraska Foundation expand its financial resources supporting music and dance such that the GKSOM endowments quadrupled.

At the University of South Florida, Richmond taught undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education, choral conducting, arts education administration, and philosophy, and served as the Chair of the General Education Council, Vice Chair of the University Research Council, and Interim Director of the School of Music. 

Richmond’s research focuses on arts education policy, legal issues in arts education, and the philosophy of music education. He is published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Research Perspectives in Music Education, Arts Education Policy Review, International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Aesthetic Education, and Choral Journal, as well as a number of research monographs, including a chapter on Hindemith in On the Nature of the Musical Experience, edited by Bennett Reimer and Jeffrey E. Wright (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1992). He is a founding director of the Suncoast Music Education Forum, the founding editor of the Florida Choral News, and served as the conference director for the 1994 World Conference of the International Society for Music Education (ISME). Richmond edited the Policy/Philosophy Research Section of the New Handbook of Research in Music Teaching and Learning for Oxford University Press and also wrote its chapter on “Law Research and Music Education.” He contributed four biographical entries and an institutional article for the new AmeriGrove Project, a chapter for the Oxford Music Education Handbook, vol. 1, edited by Gary E. McPherson and Graham F. Welch, and a chapter for Composing Our Future: Preparing Music Educators to Teach Composition, edited by Michele Kaschub and Janice Smith. Dr. Richmond served a 3-year term on the Editorial Board of Arts Education Policy Review (2013-15).

Richmond has appeared across North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia as a guest conductor, speaker, clinician, and consultant. Notable speaking engagements include the 2019 Commencement Festival Keynote Address at Die Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (Germany), the 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024 NASM National Conventions, the 2010 and 2014 ISME World Conferences (Beijing and Porto Alegre respectively), the 2007 World Conference of the College Music Society (Bangkok), the 2010 25^th Anniversary Conference of the Center for the Study of Education and the Musical Experience (Northwestern University), the 2010 Mayday Conference on Music Education and Professional Ethics (Montclair State University, NJ), the 2013 Keynote Address to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the College Music Society (Denver), a 2013 Nebraska Week Lecture on Interdisciplinary Research at Xi'an Jiaotong University (China), and the 2016 Summit on New Music Schools for the College Music Society (Columbia, SC). Richmond was elected to two terms on the NASM Commission on Accreditation (2008-2014). He currently serves on the boards of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, and KERA (public radio and television).

Richmond earned a Bachelor of Science degree (summa cum laude) in music education from William Jewell College, a Master of Music degree in conducting from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in music education from Northwestern University. In 2015, he was a recipient of the Citation for Achievement from William Jewell College, its highest alumni award.