This week Jose Bowen, the Associate Professor and Director of Music, announced his departure from Georgetown University to take a position at Miami University of Ohio as the Dean of the School of Fine Arts. While we wish Bowen the greatest success at his new job, he will be greatly missed and his leaving is a disappointment for a university which is trying to expand its Fine Arts department.
Bowen, a Stanford Graduate and Pulitzer Price nominee, came to Georgetown in 1999. Since then, he has been a leader in the creation and growth of the new Program for Performing Arts and has advocated for more funding for fine arts programs. Last fall, he played a key roll in advocating to to bring Bobby McFerrin to campus.
In an e-mail to members of the performing arts community, Bowen expressed his optimism for the Program for Performing Arts, especially with the construction of the new performing arts center. However, physical resources only provide space in which creative work is generated. To truly build a comprehensive fine arts program, Georgetown needs to build its human resources.
More than just new buildings, the program needs leadership and a long-term vision. Though a set-back for the program, Bowen’s departure should serve as a wake-up call to the University that leadership and stability are needed to build the fledgling program. It is too soon to tell whether Bowen’s departure represents a serious setback in Georgetown’s efforts to bolster its fine arts programs, but the University is surely losing talent it desperately needs.
