Don Michael Randel (born December 9, 1940) is an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, specializing in the

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

in Spain and France. He is currently the Chair of the Board of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, a trustee of the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

, and a member of the

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

editorial board, and has previously served as the fifth president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, twelfth president of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, Provost of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, and Dean of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. He has served as editor of the third and fourth editions of the '' Harvard Dictionary of Music'', the ''Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music'', and the ''Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2002. Randel is a triple

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, where he earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in musicology. After completing his PhD at Princeton, Randel joined Cornell University as an assistant professor in 1968. In 1991 he accepted the position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, then in 1995 became the Provost of Cornell. On July 1, 2000, Randel succeeded

Hugo F. Sonnenschein Hugo Freund Sonnenschein (November 14, 1940 – July 15, 2021) was an American economist and educational administrator. He served as president of the University of Chicago from 1993 to 2000. Early life Sonnenschein was born in New York City on ...

as President of the University of Chicago. As President, Randel led the Chicago Initiative, a $2 billion capital campaign to solidify the university's financial footing. He also worked to strengthen the academic work of the university in many areas, from

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

and

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

physical Physical may refer to: * Physical examination, a regular overall check-up with a doctor * ''Physical'' (Olivia Newton-John album), 1981 ** "Physical" (Olivia Newton-John song) * ''Physical'' (Gabe Gurnsey album) * "Physical" (Alcazar song) (2004) * ...

and

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

sciences Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

, and drove efforts to build stronger ties with community and regional organizations. In 2005, Randel received a $500,000 award from the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

in recognition of these efforts. On July 26, 2005, Randel announced that he would leave the University of Chicago to assume the presidency of the Mellon Foundation, where he served from 2006 to 2013.

References

External links

Profile at the University of Chicago Department of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randel, Don 1940 births Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Cornell University faculty Living people American ethnomusicologists Harvard University people Place of birth missing (living people) Presidents of the University of Chicago University of Chicago faculty 20th-century American musicologists 21st-century American musicologists Members of the American Philosophical Society