Erich J. Lear, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has announced his plans to resign effective August 2008.
Lear has served in his current position since August 2004, filling a vacancy created by the departure of the previous Dean Barbara Couture, who moved to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to become its senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Lear came to WSU in 1989. Prior to his current post, he was a music professor and director of general studies for the WSU College of Liberal Arts. As violinist/violist he has been a member of the Washington-Idaho Symphony and performs solo and chamber music at the university. He teaches upper-division music history and music theory courses on a schedule limited by his primary duties in general studies.
Lear received a bachelor’s degree in music, master’s degree in the arts, and doctorate in musical arts from the University of Iowa. He began his violin study with Edward Kurtz, a student of Eugene Ysaye, continued with Charles Treger and Allen Ohmes of the Stradivardi Quartet at Iowa, and studied further with David Cerone at the Meadowmount School of Music.
His academic career has included faculty and administrative positions at Virginia Tech, Morningside College, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and at the University of Massachusetts. From 1989 through 2000 he served as director of the WSU School of Music and Theatre Arts.
Lear has appeared as soloist and chamber musician with the support of several state arts councils and was selected as a resident artist by the Ohio Arts Council, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. He has performed as concertmaster and principal violinist or violist with the New Hampshire Music Festival, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and Roanoke Symphony.
Lear has been the Region 2 chair and team chair for Music Accreditation Reviews for the National Association of Schools of Music. He also served as administrative curriculum officer on the board of the Washington Music Educators Association. He has published in the American String Teacher and served as president of the Washington state ASTA chapter.
