DeNardo, G.

Published in No. 184, Spring 2010

One of the most cherished assignments as Editor is to announce the annual recipient of the Council for Research in Music Education’s Outstanding Dissertation Award. It was a special privilege this year to share the news with Wesley D. Brewer and his dissertation chair, Sandra Stauffer, that his dissertation was named with ODA winner for 2008-2009. The title and abstract of Dr. Brewer’s dissertation can be found the following page.

Dr. Wesley Brewer serves on the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University as assistant professor of instrumental music education. He completed his doctoral studies in music education at Arizona State University (ASU), and holds the Master of Music in Conducting from Southern Oregon University, and the Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Arizona.

He has presented findings from his research at state, national, and international conferences including meetings of the American Educational Research Association and the Society for Music Teacher Education, as well as at the Second International Conference on Narrative Inquiry in Music Education. His current research emphasis is on role-identity development among preservice music educators and examines the positive and negative impacts of traditional undergraduate music education experiences on teacher role-identity.

Dr. Brewer was also a research team member as part of the Sounds of Learning project sponsored by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) to examine the outcomes of K-12 music programs. Prior to his arrival at Roosevelt, he served as a teaching assistant for the music education department at ASU teaching undergraduate courses in music education practicum, conducting, and research methods for music therapy majors, as well as serving as the department coordinator for teaching internships. Brewer also served as a conductor for the ASU Concert Band, studying conducting with Gary W. Hill, and as a staff member for the 300-member Sun Devil Marching Band, including a performance at Super Bowl XLII. He previously taught high school and middle school in southern Arizona where his concert, marching, jazz, and percussion ensembles consistently received high ratings and in 2006 he was selected as the "Outstanding Arizona Jazz Educator of the Year."

Dr. Brewer also serves as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor for numerous ensembles, and has given pedagogical presentations at state music education conferences. He is a member of MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the American Educational Research Association, the College Music Society, and the Society for Music Teacher Education.

On behalf of the Council for Research in Music Education, I heartily extend congratulations to Wesley Brewer and his mentors at the Herberger College of the Arts, School of Music, Arizona State University.

Gregory DeNardo