University Names New Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

May 16, 2014
Donald R. Boomgaarden, Ph.D., has been appointed as The University of Scranton’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, effective July 1.
Donald R. Boomgaarden, Ph.D., has been appointed as The University of Scranton’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, effective July 1.

University of Scranton President Kevin P. Quinn, S.J., announced the appointment of Donald R. Boomgaarden, Ph.D., as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs effective July 1.

Dr. Boomgaarden currently serves as dean of the College of Music and Fine Arts at Loyola University New Orleans, a position he has held since 2009. He is responsible for managing all aspects of the college, which enrolls 800 students in 12 undergraduate and three graduate degree programs, and offers numerous undergraduate minors. The Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed his selection, which followed an extensive national search.

“Dr. Boomgaarden is a distinguished scholar, educator and administrator with more than 30 years experience, including a decade serving in teaching and leadership positions at sister Jesuit schools,” Fr. Quinn said. “I am delighted that we have identified a person who displays the kind of creativity and deep commitment to students, faculty, and Catholic and Jesuit education that are at the core of our success at The University of Scranton.”

As the chief academic officer, the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs currently oversees the University’s three undergraduate colleges, College of Graduate and Continuing Education, and Weinberg Memorial Library as well as the divisions of Student Affairs and University Mission & Ministry. Other departments that report to the provost include the Registrar’s Office, International Programs and Services, and Performance Music.

Dr. Boomgaarden earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. He also studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Vienna, Austria. He is also a graduate of Harvard University’s Institute for Management and Leadership in Education.

Before arriving in New Orleans, he served as a faculty member, department chair, and assistant vice president at a number of institutions, including Ithaca College, the University of Salzburg, Loyola University of Maryland and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Dr. Boomgaarden is a noted historian of eighteenth-century opera, music aesthetics and harmonic theory. His writings include a book, “Musical Thought in Eighteenth-Century Britain and Germany,” and articles in “The New Grove Dictionary,” “The New Grove Dictionary of Opera,” and the “British Dictionary of National Biography.” His articles and reviews have also been published in many scholarly journals including the “Journal of Musicological Research,” “Journal of Music Theory,” “Ad Parnassum,” and the “Journal of Education and Learning.” 

Dr. Boomgaarden has been active in New Orleans as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Opera and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a member of the New Orleans Historical Society, Louis Armstrong Foundation and Louisiana Basset Hound Rescue. He continues to perform regularly as a concert pianist and also as a country fiddler.

He and his wife, Paula, have two daughters and three grandchildren.

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