President of Lawrence University
Matriculation Convocation
"Liberal Philosophy, Free Discussion, and Individualized Learning at Lawrence"
Thursday, September 21, 2006, 11:10 a.m.
Jill Beck became Lawrence's 15th president and first woman president in 2004. A nationally recognized authority on arts education, she is a scholar and a practitioner of dance and choreography, has written extensively in those fields, and has directed ballet and modern dance repertory. She has taught on the faculties of the City College of New York, The Juilliard School, Connecticut College, Southern Methodist University, and the University of California, Irvine, where she was dean of the School of the Arts.
Under her leadership, the college has created an innovative postdoctoral teaching fellowship program, the Lawrence University Fellows in the Liberal Arts and Sciences. Now in its second year, the program has brought thirteen fellows to campus in fields as diverse as music composition, physics, gender studies, economics, ceramics, psychology, and philosophy.
President Beck also is the founder of ArtsBridge America, an outreach program that offers hands-on experiences in the arts to school-age children, placing university students in K-12 classrooms as instructors and mentors. In 2005, Lawrence University became the headquarters of ArtsBridge America and the first private institution to join the program, which now has 22 participating institutions in 13 states and Northern Ireland.
A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, she received her B.A. in philosophy and art history from Clark University, an M.A. in history and music from McGill University, and the Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the City University of New York.
This is her third matriculation convocation address as Lawrence University's president.
Read the Press Release: Lawrence University President Jill Beck Examines Individualized Learning in Annual Matriculation Address