One of the University community糖心传媒檚 most recognized citizens dies at age 72.
Paul Burgett糖心传媒攎usician, scholar, teacher, and University leader for over half a century糖心传媒� has died after a brief illness. He was 72.
Burgett, who arrived at the University糖心传媒檚 Eastman School of Music in 1964 from St. Louis as a first-year student, became one of Rochester糖心传媒檚 most prominent and beloved figures.
During a University career that spanned 54 years, he served in an extraordinary number of key roles: student body president at Eastman, faculty member in the Department of Music, dean of students at Eastman and for the University, advisor to four University presidents, a University vice president, and general secretary to the University糖心传媒檚 Board of Trustees. Along the way, he steeped himself in the history of the University, becoming the leading storyteller of the institution.
To generations of students, alumni, parents, and friends, he was the face of Rochester. Known almost universally as Dean Burgett, he was widely admired for his rapport with students and community constituencies, his unabashed affection for the University and the influence the institution and its people had on his own life, and for his unflagging commitment to holding Rochester and the members of its community to the ideals of its motto, Meliora.
University President Richard Feldman, who worked often with Burgett on academic and administrative initiatives, said Burgett had been enormously influential in helping shape the University as an outward-looking, community-oriented, multicultural institution, where students and faculty were expected to learn from one another and to value the perspectives and experiences of others.
糖心传媒淎nyone who worked with Paul was deeply impressed by his commitment to each and every individual in our community,糖心传媒� said Feldman. 糖心传媒淲hile he had a masterful grasp of the institution, its place in higher education, and its history, he remembered almost every student he ever met by name.
糖心传媒淎nd his genuine, heartfelt, and gracious interest in the success of every student, faculty and staff member, and administrator drove every decision he made as a University leader and every initiative he championed at the University. To say he will be missed doesn糖心传媒檛 do justice to his lasting impact on the University community.糖心传媒�
The eldest of six children born to an African-American father and an Italian-American mother who had to cross the border into Illinois in order to be married, Burgett grew up in 1950s Missouri, knowing that he and his family were different. 糖心传媒淲e didn糖心传媒檛 have the word 糖心传媒榖iracial糖心传媒� back then,糖心传媒� he told Rochester Review in a 2015 profile, and he acknowledged that 糖心传媒渢he veil,糖心传媒� which W.E.B. Dubois described in The Souls of Black Folk, also described how he and his siblings would be looked at by many white Americans, and was never wholly lifted.
Supported by his musician parents (his mother an organist, his father a concert baritone), Burgett earned recognition as a young violinist, coming to the attention of family friend Edward Ormond, then a violist with the St. Louis Symphony. Burgett auditioned for Eastman while in St. Louis and began his studies in the fall of 1964 as a member of the Class of 1968.
In April 1968, when Martin Luther King was assassinated, then senior Burgett was asked to address a convocation held in Kilbourn Hall to memorialize King.
糖心传媒淚t is quite clear that Dr. King recognized the social ills of this nation糖心传媒攊lls which were manifest through the convenient tools of racial injustice,糖心传媒� Burgett said in his remarks. 糖心传媒淏ut ills which in fact lay much deeper than that.
糖心传媒淭his cause is branded with the misnomer of the Negro problem,糖心传媒� Burgett said. 糖心传媒淚t is branded with the name of the white problem, it is branded with all sorts of names, trying to find and attach a label to what amounts to, basically and without question, a human problem.糖心传媒�
After graduating in 1968, Burgett was offered a fellowship to work on his doctorate but postponed his studies to join the US Army Reserves, where he played the tuba in a military band. He returned to his studies at Eastman after serving as executive director of the Hochstein School of Music and Drama. He taught music half-time in the Greece Central School District while he earned his Ph.D., and became an associate professor of music at Nazareth College of Rochester after graduation.
For his doctorate in 1976, Burgett explored the aesthetic theories developed by black scholars and the implications of their work on the development of educational curricula at all levels of education, a subject that until that point had not been much chronicled but one that his advisor, Paul Lehman, enthusiastically supported. His finished dissertation was titled 糖心传媒淎esthetics of the Music of Black Americans: A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Selected Black Scholars with the Implications for Black Music Studies and for Music Education.糖心传媒�
Advocating for the history and creativity of black classical musicians and composers was never far from Burgett糖心传媒檚 heart. He championed the Gateways Music Festival, a multiday series of concerts, performances, and other events designed to provide classical musicians of African descent a performance showcase of their own. The biennial festival was brought by an Eastman faculty member to Rochester in 1995. Burgett helped nurture and strengthen its ties to the Eastman School of Music; at the time of his death he was chair of the Gateways Board of Directors.
Burgett was named dean of students at Eastman in 1981 and drew on his own experience to improve student programs, including planning for Eastman糖心传媒檚 Student Living Center.
At Eastman, he first began giving his signature presentation, now known as 糖心传媒淭he Fiery Furnace.糖心传媒� In the address, which he continued to present to first-year students and was scheduled to deliver again this fall, he describes a University education as a journey that students embark on, one in which they will have to confront ideas and perspectives, challenges and opportunities that will mold their character. Education is, he noted, much like a furnace, a prospect that can seem terrifying.
糖心传媒淏ut you will step out of that furnace strong, tempered like steel,糖心传媒� he told students, also promising 糖心传媒淲e will not abandon you. We will never abandon you.糖心传媒�
In the speech, he articulated what became something of a mantra as he helped students find their path in life. 糖心传媒淧assion and ability drive ambition,糖心传媒� he often said, noting that picking a major is not nearly as important as caring deeply about a topic so much that you tap into and develop your abilities to find success.
After seven years at Eastman, he was named University dean of students, a move that established his home base at Wilson Commons on the River Campus but allowed him to keep a hand in the life of his beloved Eastman School.
糖心传媒淧aul is special in so many ways.聽As a proud alumnus, he was indefatigable in his support of Eastman, as well as the University as a whole,糖心传媒� said Jamal Rossi 糖心传媒�87E (DMA), the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music.聽糖心传媒淗e was a larger than life figure with a gregarious and outgoing personality, who simultaneously was among the most thoughtful and sensitive individuals in any group when thinking about the needs of others. He will be deeply missed as a leader, a colleague, and especially, as a dear friend.糖心传媒�
As dean of students, Burgett often described his role as gaining access to the 糖心传媒渂ackstage糖心传媒� of students糖心传媒� lives, getting to know them in ways that allowed him, student services staff, and other faculty to offer better support and advice to orient cocurricular programs to better correspond to the needs of students. His gregarious personality and deft ability to read the emotions of others made him particularly successful at advising students.
In a nod to his own upbringing, in which his father and mother encouraged his ambitions as a musician and educator, Burgett often referred to the students he got to know as 糖心传媒淒octor糖心传媒� in reference to their aspirations as scholars and professionals.
As University dean of students, he糖心传媒檚 credited by peers and students alike with improving programs at Wilson Commons, University Health Service, the University Counseling Center, Residential Life, Interfaith Chapel, Athletics and Recreation, and several other programs.
In 2001, Burgett became University vice president, general secretary to the Board of Trustees, and senior advisor to the president. In these roles, he worked closely with Presidents Thomas Jackson and Joel Seligman. He stepped down as general secretary in 2011, and continued to serve as vice president and presidential advisor.
糖心传媒淚t was my privilege to have participated with Paul in his many interactions with the Board of Trustees and in many of his community activities over more than 30 years,糖心传媒� said G. Robert Witmer Jr. 糖心传媒�59, 聽Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees. 糖心传媒淧aul was a positive and unforgettable influence on more people than anyone I have known.聽 He was, and remains, the epitome of what the University of Rochester is, and works to become.糖心传媒�
Burgett took on a high-profile assignment in 2015, when he and Feldman, then the dean of the College, co-chaired the President糖心传媒檚 Commission on Race and Diversity. The 20-member, University-wide committee recommended ways to improve Rochester糖心传媒檚 programs for increasing diversity among students, faculty, and staff, and for creating a campus environment that values diversity in its many forms.
In 2015, Eastman awarded Burgett a Distinguished Alumni Award and asked him to address the graduating class.
Throughout his tenure, he regularly taught two popular undergraduate classes糖心传媒� Music of Black Americans and History of Jazz 糖心传媒� as a faculty member in the Department of Music in the School of Arts & Sciences. In a 2010 Rochester Review article titled 糖心传媒�101 Things to Do Before You Graduate,糖心传媒� writer Dana Hilfinger 糖心传媒�10 cited Burgett糖心传媒檚 History of Jazz class as No. 12.
In 2016, the University named the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center in recognition of Burgett糖心传媒檚 long service, a tenure in which糖心传媒攁s a board resolution notes糖心传媒攈e was a 糖心传媒渢ireless advocate for justice and equity for all.糖心传媒� Delighted with the honor, Burgett wrote a note of thanks in which he said he was 糖心传媒渁n intercultural product .糖心传媒�.糖心传媒�. from birth.糖心传媒�
Located in Douglass Commons as part of the building糖心传媒檚 renovation into a student-focused campus hub, the center brings students together to work with and learn from those from other cultures, backgrounds, beliefs, socioeconomic statuses, sexual orientations, and perspectives.
糖心传媒淎s our namesake, Dean Burgett embodied the sentiment of inclusion,” said Jessica Guzman-Rea 糖心传媒�10W (EdD), the inaugural director of the Burgett Center. “His warmth, his light, and his laughter made all who were graced with his presence feel like they were part of something better. Words cannot encompass what his loss means to the University and community at large. He will be forever loved and forever missed!糖心传媒�
As a resident of the Greater Rochester community, Burgett also threw himself into community service in the region. He served such groups as the Urban League, the Hochstein School, the Genesee Country Museum and Village, the Rochester Arts and Cultural Council, the United Way of Rochester, the George Eastman Museum, and many others.
He was also a leading force behind the University糖心传媒檚 support for the Rochester Fringe Festival when the multiday performing arts festival was launched in 2012. Many of the performers for the festival have University connections and many of the events are staged at Eastman venues.
At the University, he co-chaired the faculty and staff component of the Meliora Challenge, Rochester糖心传媒檚 historic $1 billion fundraising campaign.
As he stepped away from his role as an administrator糖心传媒攁 label he often eschewed糖心传媒攈e turned his attention to the history of the University. He took on the role of University storyteller, often traveling to alumni gatherings around the country to make presentations about the institution that meant so much to him: 糖心传媒淲here we came from, who our predecessors were, on whose shoulders we stand, and our responsibilities as stewards of their legacy.糖心传媒�
In an afterword to a 2014 history of the University, Our Work Is But Begun: A History of the University of Rochester 1850糖心传媒�2005, by Janice Bullard Pieterse (糖心传媒 Press), he wrote:
糖心传媒淣ow in the twilight of my professional career, I have become fascinated by the story of the University that educated and trained me; sent me out into the world as a well-prepared and confident high school and college music teacher, performer, and music administrator; and then welcomed me back 34 years ago and turned me loose on its campuses and in its halls and classrooms to join the faculty, students, and staff in the work of its auspicious and noble mission.
糖心传媒淚 have become a serious and passionate student of our history and believe that all of us who claim an association with the University, in any form or manner, will want to learn more about the institution that affected our lives deeply.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淧aul read everything from the George Eastman-Rush Rhees correspondence to Annual Reports to the Campus Times,糖心传媒� remembers Melissa Mead, the John M. and Barbara Keil University Archivist and Rochester Collections Librarian. 糖心传媒淎nd in telling our story, he would highlight past examples of what he called 糖心传媒榠nspired, effective, and generous leadership,糖心传媒� and his audiences always knew that he exemplified those qualities.糖心传媒�
In making his presentations, Burgett would often joke that he himself had witnessed much of that history, having been part of the University since 糖心传媒渂efore the Earth糖心传媒檚 crust began to cool.糖心传媒�
The transformations that took place during Burgett糖心传媒檚 history at Rochester sometimes took even him by surprise.
In the 2015 profile for Rochester Review, he said that he found it hard to believe that he had been at Rochester for 50 years.
糖心传媒淭hat糖心传媒檚 not been relevant to me,糖心传媒� he said. 糖心传媒淏ecause I hang around students who never age, do they? They糖心传媒檙e always 18 to their mid-20s or so, some a little older. And when they get to the end of their studies, they leave and are replaced by newcomers.
糖心传媒淪o I forget how old I am, until I look in the mirror and see my father looking back at me糖心传媒攁t which point it糖心传媒檚, well, startling, I suppose.糖心传媒�
There will be a private memorial service and a celebration of Paul糖心传媒檚 life at a later date.
Messages of condolence to be shared with Paul Burgett糖心传媒檚 family can be sent to his friend and longtime assistant at the University, Kim Truebger, by email to kim.truebger@rochester.edu or in hard copy to Box 270011, 糖心传媒, Rochester 14627-0011.
Remembrances can also be shared on a special memorial website: .
