June 2002: Vol. 81, No. 3June 2002: Vol. 81, No. 3 |
UGA in the news |
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 Baker was a principal flutist for orchestras like the New York Philharmonic. He was brought to campus by Angela Jones-Reus, who studied with him at Juilliard and now heads UGA's flute department. |
It was obvious from the look on his face that Julius Baker was pleased with the sounds emanating from Kelley Watson's flute. Described by many as America's most celebrated flutist, Baker visited campus this spring to conduct a master class at Ramsey Concert Hall.
Baker kept time for Watson by waving a pencil, and when she hit a wrong note his expression changed from revelry to concern. He politely stopped the sophomore performance major from Macon and told her simply to "Play it right."
Baker is 86 years old—but so comfortable with his age that he points out that he's actually 86 1/2 because his 87th birthday is Sept. 23. The flute maestro visited UGA at the invitation of Angela Jones-Reus (see GM, Dec. '01), the head of UGA's flute department and a former student of Baker's at Juilliard, where he has taught for 50 years.
"How long should I hold the last note?" Watson asked Baker at the end of her lesson, which she confessed was a nerve-racking experience. His reply: "Forever."
The word seems appropriate when speaking of Baker, principal flutist with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Columbia Broadcasting Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has made more than 100 recordings, including all of the New York Philharmonic discs of 1965-1983 under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.
"There is not a musician on earth who doesn't know his name," says Jones-Reus. "He has either taught or played with the greatest musicians of our time."
"I love what I do and I love music," says Baker. "Many of my students have retired but I suppose that I am meant to keep playing."
Baker also teaches at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and his weekly commutes from New York are made possible by his combination chauffeur, agent, No. 1 fan, and confidant: wife Ruth.
For Jones-Reus, bringing Baker to Athens was part of a promise she made UGA flutists when they chose a state university's music program over private conservatories.
"It's incredible that Julius Baker is at UGA," says Watson, who was amongst nine flutists to play for the maestro. "Most major universities don't have such people come to instruct. Playing in front of him, you realize that he hears everything and demands perfection."
Writer Reginald McKnight will occupy new chair named for noted alumnus
Hamilton Holmes chair
Reginald McKnight, an English professor at the University of Michigan, has been named UGA's first Hamilton Holmes Professor. McKnight, a nationally known novelist and writer, will join the Creative Writing Program in UGA's department of English beginning this summer.
The new professorship honors the late Hamilton Holmes (BS '63), one of the first two African-American students to enter UGA in 1961. Holmes, who achieved a distinguished career as a physician, died in 1995.
McKnight, who will join UGA at the rank of full professor, was one of 13 candidates and four finalists considered for the Holmes Professorship.
"I haven't felt this kind of excitement and anticipation in all my years as a university professor," says McKnight. "I am hopeful that I can serve the University and the community in a manner befitting the ideals that inspired the creation of the Hamilton Holmes Professorship."
McKnight is the author of two novels, three short story collections, and two non-fiction collections. He has won numerous awards, including the Drue Heinz Prize, a Pushcart Prize, two Kenyon Review Awards and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation.
McKnight's undergraduate studies combined writing, African literature and anthropology, and he has made strong use of all three in his creative work. He has taught English at the American Cultural Center in Dakar, Senegal, at the University of Pittsburgh, at Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Maryland before joining the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2000. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, was named to Who's Who Among Black Americans and received an honorary doctorate from the Colorado College.
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 Stanley Kleven  Delmer Dunn |
Stanley Kleven, Distinguished Research Professor of Avian Medicine and Microbiology, head of the department of avian medicine, and director of the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center, has been named a Regents Professor.
Although Kleven's research has contributed to many aspects of avian medicine, his investigations have focused on avian mycoplasmosis, one of the serious respiratory diseases affecting the multi-billion-dollar commercial chicken and turkey industries in the United States and other countries.
Regents professorships are granted for three years and may be renewed for another three years. Only one UGA candidate may be nominated annually. Recipients are awarded a $10,000 salary increase and a yearly $5,000 fund for scholarly purposes.
Delmer Dunn, director of the Institute of Higher Education, has been named UGA's new vice president for instruction.
Dunn has spent his entire academic career at UGA, except for one year as an American Political Science Congressional Fellow in Washington, D.C., and one year as a research associate with The Brookings Institution, also in Washington, D.C. He joined the political science department in 1967, and is currently Regents Professor of Political Science.
Dunn's teaching responsibilities have ranged from large introductory courses to graduate courses. "This experience has given me an appreciation for the challenges of making classes an effective learning opportunity for students," says Dunn, who has participated in several university-wide programs focusing on undergrads, including serving as coordinator of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and the Academic Scholarship Identification programs. He has been a Senior Teaching Fellow and is a member of the Honors Faculty, the Graduate Faculty and UGA's Teaching Academy.
