Richard Leppert

Biography

    Richard Leppert, Morse Alumni Distinguished Teacher (1998), Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, College of Liberal Arts, has engaged in interdisciplinary teaching and research on the history of modernity in Europe and North America with a focus on the study of music, visual culture, and aesthetics. He is considered to be "among the most significant intellectuals working at the intersections of disciplinary knowledge in the humanities today." Professor Leppert is credited with the creation of the Comparative Studies in Discourse & Society program, which is thought to be among the best of its kind in the nation, and subsequently giving Minnesota the recognition of being a national leader in interdisciplinary humanities inquiry. This success is one of many the department achieved under his fifteen-year tenure as department chair. In addition, for a number of years the Department held the highest concentration of Guggenheim Fellows in the University. He is the author of nine books (with a tenth book in press), which have been reviewed by as many as fifty-eight different academic journals in the fields of musicology, art history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, critical theory, literary studies, and history. Professor Leppert's written work has been translated and used in graduate and undergraduate courses throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Most recently, his internationally acclaimed 750-page critical edition of the musical writings of Theodor W. Adorno is in its fourth printing. He has published over thirty-six sole-authored journal essays and book chapters and has delivered more than 150 papers on three continents. He has taught fourteen different graduate seminars, two postdoctoral seminars and more than twelve undergraduate courses. He has served on the graduate committees of students in two colleges and in thirteen departments. Currently, he serves as adviser to eight doctoral students in three programs and his graduate committee assignments include eleven additional students (one from another University) from six departments. His service to the University is remarkable. He has served on seventy-two committees within the University and many in the community, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Guthrie Theater, and the Walker Art Center. His contributions to scholarship beyond the University and Twin Cities community include refereeing individual fellowship projects and peer-review panel service for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies. He has also served as a member of the American Musicological Society, the National Council, and several other standing national committees. Professor Leppert is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Post-Baccalaureate, Graduate & Professional Education, Scholar of the College (CLA), McKnight Arts & Humanities Senior Research Award, Academy of Distinguished Teachers, Phi Beta Kappa National Scholar, American Musicological Society, the Otto Kinkeldy Award for Excellence of a Musicology Book, to name a few. As a world-leader in the field of humanistic studies, a dedicated teacher, and University leader, Professor Leppert exemplifies the qualities of a Regents Professor.