Wayne State University Distinguished Professor of Music James Hartway has been selected for the first Murray E. Jackson University Creative Scholar in the Arts Award.
The award, established in memory of late Wayne State Governor Murray Jackson, supports a year-long faculty-artist in residence program intended to showcase "exceptional faculty talent in the traditional performing, creative and visual arts as well as more non-traditional arts." As a "scholar in-residence," Hartway will have a unique opportunity to engage in creative activity in his field, share his approach to music composition with students and other faculty, and perform his finished works in public. The award is a presidential initiative that will allow the selected faculty member an academic year (fall and winter semesters) to engage solely in creative activity and serve as an artistic and creative resource to the campus.
"Wayne State University is fortunate to have Professor James Hartway among its ranks," said Wayne State University Provost Ronald T. Brown. "Professor Hartway is an internationally renowned composer. His achievements as an artist and as a teacher have helped to propel the successful music careers of many Wayne State students. Through this prestigious award, Professor Hartway will be empowered to explore and develop his own creative potential in ways that enhance Wayne State's campus and enrich the community at large."
The selection committee was chaired by Julie Miller, secretary to the Board of Governors and senior executive assistant to the President. Any full-time Wayne State faculty member with a minimum of five years of service to the University was eligible. Candidates were expected to have achieved or show promise of achieving distinction in their careers; be engaged in a creative field including the performing arts, visual arts and letters; have demonstrated extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits; and perform work that exemplifies a clear sense of purpose and direction is eligible.
"I am honored and humbled by this prestigious award," Hartway said. "As the Murray E. Jackson University Creative Scholar in the Arts, I hope to immerse myself in music -- creating, composing, feeling, learning, and perhaps, most significantly, teaching. The creative process is interactive and synergistic. Wayne State's students, its campus and the inspirational canvas we call Detroit will influence and become an integral part of the artistic achievements we realize in this upcoming academic year."
In addition to holding the title of Distinguished Professor at Wayne State, Hartway is director of its Division of Music Composition and Theory. In 1992 he received the University's highest honor, a lifetime membership in the Academy of Scholars, and is that organization's past president. He recently completed his fifth concerto, Urban Pictures, for jazz quintet and symphony orchestra as part of the Detroit/Torino International Jazz Project. Professor Hartway holds bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in music from Michigan State University.
About Murray E. Jackson
Murray Jackson (1926-2002), was a poet, college professor and community and civil rights activist. He was a member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors from 1981 to 2001, but his affiliation with the University began long before that.
Following his service with the Navy Seabees during World War II, Jackson entered Wayne State University as a student, rejecting a recruiting contract from the major league baseball Brooklyn Dodgers. He graduated from Wayne State with bachelor's and master's degrees in the humanities and began his career as an academic adviser in the College of Liberal Arts.
Jackson was instrumental in founding Detroit's first urban college and was appointed president of Wayne County Community College in 1970. The University of Michigan offered him a tenured faculty position in 1972, which he held until his appointment as Emeritus Associate Professor of Urban Higher Education in 1992.
Most of Murray Jackson's professional and community service efforts were directed to metropolitan Detroit. He maintained a lifelong commitment to community building, civil rights and education while achieving fame in literary circles as a poet. He is the author of Woodland Sketches: Scenes from Childhood (X-Press Productions) and Watermelon Rinds and Cherry Pits (Broadside Press). Several selections are included in New Poems from the Third Coast (Wayne State University Press). He was the first executive director of the Detroit Council of the Arts.
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