The College of Arts and Letters recently made its final selection in the search to fill the position of associate dean. Dr. Madeleine Hooper, currently the head of the modern and classical languages department, accepted the position effective July 1.

Hooper will gradually assume the duties associated with her new position and overlap with Dr. Roger Stoner, current associate dean, until his retirement in January 2012.

“Dr. Hooper will be a fantastic associate dean. Her unique personal and intellectual qualities will serve the college very well,” Stoner says. “With Dean Adams and Associate Dean Hooper at the helm, the college could not be in better hands.”

There are some special short-term projects Hooper will take on for the college. Additionally, she will help with the transition of the incoming acting modern and classical languages department head.

“I love that I get a new challenge,” Hooper says. “I loved being department head, but after 10 years I felt like I wanted a change and that’s what I most look forward to. Working for the college seems like a wonderful opportunity.”

Hooper received her doctorate from the University of Kansas. In addition to her department head duties, she teaches French and Italian. Her specific interest areas for research include foreign language policy, assessment and international programs.

“My passions are international and diversity,” Hooper says. “I hope that I can be a force that pushes in that direction for us to work on our international components, work on diversity and, of course, to support the dean and the department heads.”

In addition to her new role as associate dean, Hooper also hopes to maintain her advising activities and coordinator position with the global studies major.

“Her interests in advising, assessment, interdisciplinary initiatives and international programs will serve and enhance college and university priorities,” Stoner says. “Her ability to work with students, faculty and staff is extraordinary, as is her comprehensive knowledge of the College of Arts and Letters.”

The College of Arts and Letters welcomes Dr. Julie Combs to Missouri State University! Dr. Combs has been named Department Head of Music and begins her role on July 1, 2010.

“We are very much looking forward to Dr. Combs joining us at Missouri State,” Dr. Carey Adams, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, says. “With her prior administrative experience and leadership in the National Association of Schools of Music, she will bring both a veteran’s hand and a newcomer’s fresh perspective to leading our outstanding music programs.”

Dr. Combs previously served as Department Head of Music at the University of Wyoming, where she was a professor from 1978 to 2005 and head from 1999 to 2005, and at Oklahoma State University from 2005 to present. Combs received her Bachelor of Music in Woodwinds (Oboe Performance) and Master of Music (Oboe Performance) with Performer’s Certificates from the University of Memphis. She studied and performed on the modern and baroque oboes at the University of North Texas, where she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

Combs performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral oboist and also plays the English horn. She served as principal oboe for the US Army Chamber Orchestra and was the fourth woman accepted as a member of the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in Washington, D.C. She has presented at meetings of the College Music Society, Society for American Music, and the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), which she has also served as a member of the Ethics Committee and Commission on Accreditation.

“I am thrilled and excited to become a part of the Missouri State University Music Department and look forward to working with Dean Carey Adams, the COAL department heads, music faculty, staff, and especially the students,” Dr. Combs says. “Coming to Springfield returns me to my home state and to the campus where, as a junior high student, I began deciding on a life in music. It’s my goal to expand the music department’s traditions of excellence for music majors, non-majors, and for audiences within and beyond our state. I can’t wait to get ‘maroonified!’”

“During my time on campus, I was very impressed with the commitment and vision of the administration, the dedication of the faculty and the enthusiasm of the students,” Willenbrink said.   “MSU is a prestigious institution and it will be an honor to work with so many quality people in the Department of Theatre and Dance, the College of Arts and Letters and the University.”

Willenbrink will succeed Mark Biggs, Associate Professor of Media, who is serving a two-year term as acting department head.

DR. BOB WILLENBRINK  holds the Ph.D. in Theatre from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. He began his academic career at Hazard (Ky.) Community College and for many years served as Chair and Director of Theatre at the University of Central Arkansas. While there, he created the Youth Theatre of Central Arkansas, was the national director of the ARC Performing Arts Institute for disabled artists, and was the founder of ACTS, a theatre troupe for disabled performers.

Throughout his career he has directed over 80 productions of various styles and genres at numerous venues.  A former chair of Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VI, he is a member of the Kentucky Humanities Council board of directors and serves as a director and first vice-president of the board of the Jenny Wiley Theatre in Prestonsburg, Ky. He serves as the director for the Kincaid Regional Theatre in Falmouth, Ky. and received the 2008 Distinguished Creative Production Award at Morehead State University.

“Art and design have a long history of excellence at Missouri State,” said College of Arts and Letters Dean Dr. Carey Adams, “and the department continues to attract increasingly talented students and faculty.  With the development of a new downtown home at Brick City, the department is poised to take giant steps forward.  Wade already has demonstrated the knowledge and vision to lead art and design into that future.”

Thompson received his B.A. in Art with distinction at Macalester College in Minnesota, his MFA and M.A. at the School of Art at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and also graduated from the prestigious Pratt Institute School of Art and Design in Brooklyn, New York. He has received several University awards, including the College Award in Service in 2004 and the University Award in Research in 1998. Thompson’s paintings have been exhibited nationwide, including exhibits in Kansas City, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Washington, D.C, and he has also presented worldwide, with presentations in London, Oslo, and Helsinki.