Madsen keynotes commencement
Florida State University’s distinguished professor of music, Clifford L. Madsen, will keynote College of Eastern Utah’s 71st commencement exercises on Saturday, May 2 at 10:30 a.m. in the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center.
During CEU’s 65th Anniversary celebration in 2003, Madsen was honored as the Outstanding Alumni.
Florida State University’s distinguished professor of music, Clifford L. Madsen, will keynote College of Eastern Utah’s 71st commencement exercises on Saturday, May 2 at 10:30 a.m. in the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center.
During CEU’s 65th Anniversary celebration in 2003, Madsen was honored as the Outstanding Alumni.
Madsen grew up in Price in a large gregarious family headed by a school principal and teacher. Music must have been in his blood because he began playing in the Jimmy Dart Orchestra in the eight grade. In college, his activities included football, wrestling, radio, dramatics and forensics.
He graduated from Carbon College (CEU) where he received the gold medal as the Most Outstanding Graduate. He continued his education at Brigham Young University where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees with high honors and the Keeler Award as Most Outstanding Musician. He directed the BYU Cougar Band during his master’s program.
He earned his doctorate from FSU where he went on to teach more than 40 years and stood as one of the world’s pre-eminent scholars in music education.
A living legend in the field of music education, Madsen was the recipient of the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at FSU, the university’s highest faculty honor. He also was given the President’s Teaching Award and the Daisy Parker Flory Alumni Professorship for exemplary service to the university.
He published 12 books, nearly 90 research articles and presented 130 papers.
Colleagues from FSC and other universities describe Madsen variously as “a teacher’s teacher,” “an inspiration for a number of outstanding students,” and “effective ambassador” for both FSU and the United States, “without peer among his colleagues,” and having “the highest degree of scholarship in our field.”
He is known for his infectious enthusiasm and boundless energy … one of those unique persons who maintains the highest quality in all that he does.
Another Lawton Professor described Madsen as, “a quiet intensity, a thoroughness and unusual dedication to such service” and a “high level of intelligence, fairness and diligence.”
