Clark University has named Professor Matthew P. Malsky Associate Provost and Dean of the College. He will start his new post on June 1.
Professor Malsky has been at Clark for 21 years, first as an adjunct instructor, then as a multi-year visiting assistant professor, and most recently as a full Professor and an endowed chair. He currently serves as director of the Music Program in the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
“I am deeply committed to liberal education, both in my teaching and intellectual work. I believe that liberal education is beset in America—from within and without, and that through its own unique character and commitment to Liberal Education and Effective Practice (LEEP), Clark has taken an admirable and important stand. I’ve long been proud to be a part of that effort. I am delighted to have the opportunity to be an advocate for its ideals and practices on campus as the Dean of the College,” wrote Malsky.
Professor Malsky is an internationally acclaimed composer whose works have been performed throughout the United States, Europe and Australia by ensembles such as the Contemporary Chamber Players at the University of Chicago, the Minnesota Composers Forum, the Musik Factory (Norway), on the radio in Buffalo, St. Paul, and Toronto, and at numerous contemporary music festivals. He is currently on the board of the Worcester Chamber Music Society.
As a scholar, Professor Malsky’s research examines, from a psychoanalytic perspective, the intersections of American music, technology and culture in the post-World War II period. His articles are published in the areas of ethnomusicology, cultural, sound and film studies by Wesleyan University, University of Illinois and Bloomsburg Presses, and online through Reconstructions and World Picture Journal. His teaching interests include computer music, audio production, musical acoustics, composition, film sound and music, and popular music.
Professor Malsky recently released a chamber music album entitled “Geographies & Geometries” in collaboration with the Worcester Chamber Music Society, Radius Ensemble, and C-Squared available from Ravello Records. He is also the creator of Clark Laptop Orchestra—CLOrk, an on-going project to bring musical experiences with laptop computers to the Clark community.
Professor Malsky has served the University on numerous committees and worked constructively with faculty and students from all parts of the campus throughout his tenure. He also served as chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and as director of the Communication and Culture Program. Most recently, Professor Malsky served on the Undergraduate Education Task Force from which the LEEP initiative emerged.
“Professor Malsky brings extensive and effective experience in faculty governance, including being an important member of the Undergraduate Task Force that led to the development of the Liberal Education and Effective Practice initiative. He is committed to liberal education and to Clark’s innovation with liberal education, the addition of effective practice. I very much look forward to working with him as Associate Provost and Dean of the College,” said Clark University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Davis Baird. Malsky graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music from Brandeis University in 1983 and received his Ph.D. in composition and music theory from the University of Chicago in 1990.
Professor Malsky succeeds Professor Mary-Ellen Boyle, who served as Associate Provost and Dean of the College since 2012.
Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark’s pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark’s faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to complex challenges in the natural sciences, psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University’s motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.
