<< Front page News April 30, 2004

David Stull now leads the Con
Dean forsees greater public role for OC students

David Stull: Appointed Dean.
 

Acting Conservatory Dean David Stull has recently accepted the position of Dean of the Conservatory. The hiring process was very simple.

“He was the only person we considered,” President Nancy Dye said. “We had a splendid in-house candidate. He is exceedingly well qualified and has a lot of administrative experience. He has been doing a splendid job as acting dean and before that he did a splendid job as associate dean. He will represent the Con really well.”

Stull is a graduate of Oberlin’s double-degree program in tuba and English literature.

After graduating, he studied with the American Brass Quintet program at Julliard, and served as Assistant Dean of the Lawrence Conservatory, tuba instructor and brass chamber music coach. He has performed at such venues as Lincoln Center Town Hall and Merkin Hall in New York City.

Stull came to Oberlin as Associate Dean in the fall of 2000.

While Associate Dean, Stull stated a desire to increase community outreach in Cleveland and the surrounding areas. He also sees the relationship between the College and the Conservatory as one of Oberlin’s greatest strengths. However, there is always room for improvement.

“We are looking at new initiatives,” Stull said, “where the Conservatory, within the next couple of years, will be initiating an array of courses available just for College students. As far as the collegial relationships, I think they’re very, very good. What we need to do now is translate our mutual desire into an actual plan and a curriculum that allows for the true wonder of this place, which is the Conservatory and the College, to be realized.”

In an interview with the Review in March, Stull articulated a desire to make the Conservatory more accessible to College students.

“You’re going to see enhancements to the curriculum, that will increase access,” he said. “We’ll have courses that are readily accessible to students with a general interest in music at all ability levels.
Stull remarks that working as a teacher was “an incredibly formative part” of his experience.

“Teaching and spending time working closely with students is crucial to working as a dean,” Stull said. “You need to have that perspective in your mind at all times because, essentially, the administration is the service of the enterprise of teaching and learning. So for the faculty and students the deans are here to provide the best frame that we can for that kind of interchange to happen at the highest level.”

Stull said that expanding the opportunities for faculty and students to perform in other areas of the nation, as well as other areas of the world, is one of his foremost priorities.

“I think that the Conservatory has become more and more of an international phenomenon in recent years, and it will continue to do so,” Stull said.


 
 
   

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