James Forger

ABOUT

James Forger is Dean of the College of Music at Michigan State University. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, he began his career at East Carolina University as assistant professor of saxophone. Jim joined the MSU faculty in 1979 as assistant professor of saxophone and became director of the School of Music in 1990. During his tenure, the College has grown in quality, size, and diversity adding programs in jazz studies, ethnomusicology, collaborative piano, music theory pedagogy, piano pedagogy, early childhood music, and electronic media. Additional programmatic emphasis has been placed on an expanded chamber music program, entrepreneurial musicianship, curricular and programmatic support for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and initiatives in support of health and wellbeing. Steady and incremental investment provided by the central administration as well as support for retaining faculty has resulted in significant advances in the research and performance profile of the College. An increased focus expanding a highly effective development team significantly increased annual and endowment giving growing the number of endowments from 6 to 153 and yielding more than $100M in gifts. Forger led several successful facility expansion and renovation projects, including the opening of the new $42M Billman Music Pavilion (2020), renovations of Fairchild Theatre (2013), and Cook Recital Hall (2012), as well as the installation of a new organ in the MSU Alumni Chapel (2020).

The College outreach dimension expanded with the founding of Community Music Schools in East Lansing (1993) and Detroit (2009) that serve more than 2,500 adults and children weekly. In 2007 he led the transition of the School of Music, previously one of nine academic units within the College of Arts and Letters, to MSU’s 16th independent college. In 2015 the University recognized him with the Robert F. Banks Award for Institutional Leadership. Jim has maintained an active role as a saxophone performer and for more than 25 years, he has performed annually with the Grand Teton Music Festival. He is active in the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) serving as an accreditation visit chair, chairperson of the National Association of Schools of Music Commission on Non-Degree-Granting Accreditation, and member of the NASM Commission on Accreditation.