Two new Deans at DePaul ---
Ronald Caltabiano
Composer and community engagement leader, Ronald Caltabiano will serve as the next dean for DePaul's School of Music. (UCSF DMM / Marco Sanchez)
RONALD CALTABIANO NAMED DEAN FOR THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Marten denBoer Ph.D. MARCH 31, 2016
I am happy to announce Dr. Ronald Caltabiano will serve as the next dean for the School of Music. He will begin his new role on July 1, and we look forward to welcoming him to our university community.
Our School of Music is gaining both an internationally recognized composer and a dedicated instructor with more than 25 years in higher education, including 14 as an administrator. In his current role as dean and professor for the Jordan College of Arts at Butler University in Indianapolis, Ron oversees the areas of art, arts administration, dance, music, theatre and a community outreach program that reaches 1,800 low-income youth.
On his arrival at Butler in 2011, he managed the completion of and final fundraising for the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts, a 450-seat multi-arts venue. The combination of his fundraising efforts and building relationships with key stakeholders resulted in a 40 percent increase in student scholarships for music. Ron's experience as dean, including the management of large arts facilities, prepares him well to lead DePaul's School of Music during the construction of our own new state-of-the-art building.
Ron is also the founding director of Butler ArtsFest, an annual 11-day festival that brings national and international artists on campus to work with students and faculty. He cares deeply about connecting with the local community and developing programs for diverse audiences to enjoy.
Trained at The Juilliard School in New York, Ron launched his musical career as a composer. His compositions have been heard around the globe, with commissions and performances by the San Francisco, Cincinnati and Dallas Symphony Orchestras. Chamber ensembles who have performed his work include Juilliard, Emerson and Arditti String Quartets, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Fires of London. Numerous labels have recorded his compositions, and his extensive experience with performers has enhanced his leadership as an educator.
While maintaining his independent career as a composer, Ron taught music composition and theory at the Manhattan School of Music, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. He also served as a faculty member and associate dean at the College of Creative Arts at San Francisco State University from 1996 until 2011.
I am thankful for the dedication of the search committee, led by Dean John Culbert. The committee worked hard for months conducting a thorough national search. I appreciate their time and thoughtful consideration. I also would like to thank the faculty and staff who shared insightful comments on the various candidates. The committee and I found them to be very helpful in the decision.
I am also extremely grateful to Judy Bundra, who has done extraordinary work as interim dean for the School of Music since January 2015. Our new dean will benefit greatly from Judy's leadership and experience as he transitions into his new role at DePaul.
In all of my conversations with Ron, he expressed great admiration for the talent embodied in DePaul's School of Music. He looks forward to collaborating with our outstanding faculty, staff and students, especially during the construction of the new music facilities, to build on the school's strengths and foster the next generation of world-class musicians.
Source: Newline Online, March 31, 2016
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Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco
Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco, the next dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, emphasizes the importance of building bridges between academic units to create a multidisciplinary learning environment. (Ball State University/Christopher Helms)
GUILLERMO VÁSQUEZ DE VELASCO NAMED DEAN FOR THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Marten denBoer Ph. D. MARCH 29, 2016
As we begin the spring quarter, I have good news to share with the university community. Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco, an international scholar and designer, will serve as the next dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, effective July 1.
An architect and urban planner by training, Guillermo brings three decades of experience as an educator and university administrator to DePaul. At Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he currently is vice provost and professor of architecture, he earlier served as dean for the College of Architecture and Planning from 2007 to 2015. Prior to joining Ball State University, he was executive associate dean and director of outreach for the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
During his years leading the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State, he and his colleagues set high academic standards with 94 percent of its students holding high school honors diplomas. The college had the highest four-year graduation rate and the lowest attrition rate at the university. He also achieved high levels of alumni engagement and greatly enhanced the collective identity of the college. A strong supporter of experiential learning, he promoted the expansion of graduate programs in the urban core of Indianapolis and a wide variety of study abroad programs.
Guillermo incorporates his training as a designer and planner into all aspects of his work. His natural curiosity makes him a perpetual learner and constant innovator. In his discussions with me, he emphasized an eagerness to build bridges between units and continuing to strengthen our multidisciplinary collaboration at DePaul.
Born and raised in Perú, Guillermo has studied and worked around the world. He earned his doctorate in architecture from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and a master's degree in architecture from the University of Toronto in Canada. He has a bachelor's degree in architecture and urban planning from Ricardo Palma University in Lima, Perú. He has practiced as both an architect and urban planner in Perú and Belgium.
Early in his career he became an independent practitioner and started teaching design courses. He has been working with students ever since and has held faculty positions at Delft University of Technology, the University of Toronto, as well as Sagrado Corazon University and Ricardo Palma University. He currently teaches a distance-education course at Ball State University on the fundamentals of design thinking. In his words, teaching is addictive, a sentiment I believe we all share at DePaul.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank the search committee, led by Salma Ghanem, dean for the College of Communication. The committee completed a thorough national search, and I am grateful for their dedication to this task. I also am thankful for the feedback I received from faculty and staff throughout the search process. The committee and I found all the comments to be helpful in our decision.
In addition, I would like to thank Lucy Rinehart who has done outstanding work as interim dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences since January 2015. I am sure our next dean will appreciate Lucy's insights and experience as he transitions into his new role at DePaul.
We look forward to welcoming Guillermo to the DePaul community.
Source: Newsline Online, March 29, 2016
Our next book will be “ A God in Ruins”, by Kate Atkinson. Set in the aftermath of World War II, the book highlights the contributions of one man to the war and his life in post war England. For those not familiar with the book, here is a review. 
