Overview
Dr. Rodney Miller is in his fifteenth year as Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University. He came to WSU from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where he served as Dean of the College of Fine Arts & Humanities for six years. Prior to that, he was the Director of Vocal Studies at New York University. Dr. Miller received his Ph.D. from Illinois State University, an MM from Indiana University and a BM from West Texas State University. His scholarly and creative endeavors run the gamut from professional operatic performances to quantitative research analysis. He is a veteran of the professional operatic stage, and his career has taken him throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He has been on national broadcasts both in the United States and in Europe, and has recorded for labels on both continents. His specific scholarly interests include 20th Century American vocal music, both popular and classical, as well as administrative and sociological theory as it applies to American Higher Education.
Miller has long been an advocate of arts education. In this capacity he was integral in the creation and served as the founding president of the Nebraska Alliance for Arts Education. In this capacity he also served as a member of the National Alliance for Arts Education through the education wing of the Kennedy Center and Americans for the Arts. He has also collaborated on studies charting the economic, cultural and quality of life impact of the non-profit arts, and he has written extensively on the importance of the arts to the health and wealth of our society. He and his wife, Pina Mozzani, also a professional opera singer and vocal teacher, have two children following in their footsteps. Their daughter, Rachael, is a professional actress in Los Angeles, and their son, Matthew, is a lighting and designer in Chicago who has worked extensively in Europe as well as North and South America.