At the 100th annual meeting of the National Association of Schools of Music held in Chicago in November 2024, James Forger, dean of the College of Music at Michigan State University, was elected by the membership as vice president and president-elect of the Association.

Dean James Forger has directed music programs at MSU since 1990, leading the transition from school to college and the largest facilities expansion in its history. He was recently elected by the membership of the National Association of Schools of Music as vice president and president-elect of the Association.

NASM is an organization of schools, conservatories, colleges and universities with approximately 628 accredited institutional members. It is the principal accreditor for higher education in music in the United States. Founded in 1924, NASM establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees and other credentials for music and music-related disciplines. It also aids institutions and individuals engaged in artistic, scholarly, educational, and other music-related endeavors.

Forger’s new leadership position in NASM also begins a six-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Council of Arts Accrediting Associations. The CAAA board consists of nine trustees, eight of whom are the presidents and vice presidents of the academic accrediting associations for music, theatre, dance, and art institutions.

Forger joined the MSU faculty in 1979 as assistant professor of saxophone and became director of the School of Music in 1990. During his tenure, the College has grown in quality, size and diversity. Under his leadership, the School of Music became MSU’s 16th college in 2007, and he led the effort to construct the largest expansion of music facilities on campus with the state-of-the-art Billman Music Pavilion.

This story originally appeared on the College of Music website.