Jacqueline H. Wiggins
Associate Professor and Chair
Music, Theatre and Dance

Jackie Wiggins has served as chair of Music, Theatre and Dance (MTD) since 2002 and has distinguished herself by her energetic approach to the position, her leadership in a period of departmental expansion, and her commitment to the quality of the programs within the unit. Wiggins is a tireless advocate for faculty and students in MTD, always making her case based upon the quality and commitment of the people she works with and the students whom they serve. During her period as chair, the department completed a self-study for national accreditation, submitted proposals for a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, and a Ph.D. in Music Education. The first Ph.D. was awarded at the December 2006 commencement. She has kept the department’s focus on the future while dealing with its present. She has been a patient participant in discussions to raise the capital necessary to construct a new building to house the educational programs for the department; pushing to meet the academic needs of students in the performing arts and yet compromising when a compromise didn’t mean undermining the quality of the education students can receive in MTD degree programs. She has also overseen an active period in new faculty recruitment in which six new faculty members have joined the department in the last two years alone. As chair she has set an example for her faculty by maintaining an active research agenda that leads to many requests for speeches and consulting both nationally and internationally. She is widely considered an international leader in the constructivist approach to music education, as well as an internationally recognized scholar who also understands the value of quality service and leadership within her own institution.