Dr. David Worrall to chair the AA&A department following Dr Pantelis Vassilakis’s departure after 7 years at the helm

We are pleased to announce the appointment of David Worrall, Ph.D., as Chair of the Audio Arts and Acoustics Department, effective July 15, 2016.

David is recognized internationally for his music, data sonification and portable polymedia event spaces. His creative practice encompasses music, sound and polymedia installations, sound poetry, software frameworks for composition and the sonification of information in large or high-frequency multivariate datasets.

David has won various awards and has held composition and research fellowship positions in Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. He is currently a member of the Experimental Audio Research group at the International Fraunhofer-Institute for Integrated Circuits in Erlangen, Germany and is Senior Adjunct Research Fellow at Australian National University (ANU).

He taught composition and electronic music at ANU and was the Founding Head of the Australian Centre for the Arts and Technology (ACAT) in 1989, a position he held for more than a decade. ACAT spearheaded the development of the arts and new technology education and research in Australia, with collaborations in Science (Acoustics, Computing, Supercomputing, Communication), Mathematics, Engineering, Geography and Anthropology, and in Art and Music.

David holds a Ph.D. in sonic communications from the University of Canberra. As an undergraduate at the Universities of Sydney and Adelaide, he studied music composition, philosophy and mathematics. He has been actively involved with a number of organizations for music, electronic arts and science communication. He is currently working on STEM to STEAM projects, is a board member of the International Community for Auditory Display (ICAD), and an editor for the journal Organised Sound (recently co-editing an issue on sonification). He continues to publish widely, and performs with the electroband Australysis.

Please join us in welcoming David to Columbia College Chicago.

Please also join us in thanking Pantelis Vassilakis, Ph.D., for his years of service as Chair of the Audio Arts and Acoustics Department, a position he has held since 2009. Pantelis will step down effective June 30, 2016 as he and his family move back to their home state of California.

During his tenure as chair, the Audio Arts and Acoustics Department updated its programmatic offerings, launched the institution’s first bachelor of science degree program, and oversaw the launch of the department’s first undergraduate interdisciplinary degree program—B.S. in Music Technology—in partnership with the Interactive Arts and Media Department and Music Department. Under Pantelis’ leadership, the department produced or co-produced high-profile college-wide events that highlighted creative, academic, and industry leaders, involved students at all production stages, and reached out to the Chicago community.

Pantelis’ timbre research and signal processing applications have been widely cited in various academic and research journals, and he maintains an active presence as a research manuscript, promotion, and program reviewer. Moving forward, Pantelis will be working as an Acoustics Consultant for entertainment events in California and beyond, starting with the KAABOO 2016 Music and Arts Festival in Del Mar, California.

The department is grateful for his service as chair and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

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