Denise Seachrist, Ph.D., director of the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University, has been named interim dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State University at Stark, effective July 1, 2014. Todd Diacon, Kent State’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, made the announcement. Kent State Stark is the only public university in Stark County and the largest Regional Campus of Kent State.
Seachrist succeeds Walter F. Wagor, Ph.D., who has decided to return to a faculty position after having served successfully as dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State Stark for the past four years.
“Denise Seachrist is a special person who combines the highest level of experience on both the Kent and Regional campuses with an engaging personality that befits a campus of Stark’s stature,” Diacon said.
Seachrist expressed her excitement in joining the Stark Campus.
“Kent State University at Stark is a very vibrant and exciting place,” Seachrist said. “I am honored to have been asked to serve as interim dean. I look forward to promoting the campus’ excellent work and expanding our connections in the community.”
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Seachrist has served as the director of Kent State’s School of Music since 2008 and holds the rank of professor. She has served as interim associate provost, interim dean for Academic and Student Services, Regional Campuses and as interim assistant dean of Kent State University at Trumbull.
Seachrist’s work as a faculty member and administrator has been recognized. In 2004, she was the recipient of the Trumbull Campus Outstanding Administrator Service Award. In 2001 and again in 2003, she received the Trumbull Campus Dean’s Award for Leadership and Service. In 1999, she received the Trumbull Campus Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Service Award and was selected as one of four delegates to represent Kent State in a 17-day educational exchange to China. She served on the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra’s Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2005, is a past-chair of the University Teaching Council and was a member of the 2004-2005 university’s Leadership Academy.
A specialist in the music of both historical and living German religious communities in Pennsylvania, Seachrist serves on the board of the Communal Studies Association. She is a member of the editorial board for Pennsylvania-German History and Culture book series published by Penn State Press. She is the past series editor of the WorldMusics series published by Kent State University Press, which is part of a joint effort by Kent State University Press, Indiana University Press and Temple University Press.
She has authored 25 refereed journal articles, two book chapters and entries in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik, second edition, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, and The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 3, “the United States and Canada.” Seachrist is the author of Snow Hill: In the Shadows of the Ephrata Cloister (2010) and The Musical World of Halim El-Dabh (2003), both published by the Kent State University Press.
Seachrist received her Ph.D. in musicology-ethnomusicology from Kent State and a Master of Music in vocal performance from Youngstown State University. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Heidelberg College.
Seachrist resides in Rootstown, Ohio.
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Media Contacts:
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595
Cynthia Williams, cdwillia@kent.edu, 330-244-3262