{"id":24905,"date":"2010-11-17T08:22:17","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T13:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=24905"},"modified":"2011-05-31T12:36:34","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T16:36:34","slug":"a-gifted-dean-supports-his-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2010\/11\/a-gifted-dean-supports-his-school\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gifted Dean Supports His School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Dean<\/a>
David Woods, dean of the School of Fine Arts. Photo provided by the School of Fine Arts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes, one story can tell the whole of a person. For David Woods, dean of the School of Fine Arts, dozens of stories exist, but here is a particularly telling one:<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago, Woods accompanied a group of UConn engineering and physics students to the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan. On the bus ride back, a student approached the head of the music department, who was sitting in a seat near Woods. \u201cI was wondering if there are any opportunities for non-majors to take piano or saxophone lessons at the school,\u201d the student said. But unless a student has a major in the subject, such pursuits are discouraged. No, he was told.<\/p>\n

But Woods, who \u2013 unbeknownst to many on campus \u2013 is an accomplished saxophonist, was eavesdropping. He gave the student his card, and the student jokingly said, \u201cYou\u2019re the dean? Is there anything you can do?\u201d The next day, he e-mailed the student. \u201cWe have no studio space for you at this time,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHowever, my undergraduate and graduate degrees are in saxophone performance, and if you are interested, I could give you saxophone lessons myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The student, David Lindsay, was stupefied. \u201cI had to read the e-mail multiple times to make sure I wasn\u2019t dreaming,\u201d says Lindsay, who is majoring in neurophysiology and mathematics in the hopes of becoming a physician-scientist. \u201cI was a freshman then. I\u2019m a junior now, and I\u2019ve been taking lessons with him since freshman year. He\u2019s an expert in saxophone instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<p>Saxaphone<\/p>\"<\/a>
Dean Woods is a saxophone player and instructor, as well as an arts administrator. Stock photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tale is vintage Woods: He sees a need, he meets it. And now he is meeting another need, as the School of Fine Arts heads into its 50th year and a $5 million campaign to mark its anniversary. He has committed a planned gift of $100,000 to the school to jump-start the campaign. \u201cI did it because UConn has been such a part of my life,\u201d he says. \u201cI really want to give back to the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

From his childhood in Topeka, Kan., where he put on puppet shows with his younger sister in playgrounds throughout the city (his father, a jazz trumpet player, delivered them and their puppet trailer to the appointed spots; his mother was a violinist), to later years when he played saxophone and performed in numerous theatrical productions, Woods has rejoiced in the arts at the same time that he has delighted in the instruction of them.<\/p>\n

His stellar reputation has always preceded him: In one case, he was serving as dean at the University of Oklahoma when Indiana University\u2019s School of Music decided it had to have him. The head of the search committee traveled to Woods\u2019s home in Oklahoma unannounced, and when Woods didn\u2019t open the door \u2013 he was out attending a play \u2013 the search committee head sat on the stoop, waiting. When Woods returned home, stunned by the unexpected visit, he agreed to visit IU. \u201cAnd they sent a private plane to pick me up!,\u201d he remembers. He took the job.<\/p>\n

\"<p>Campaign<\/a>Celebrating his 10th year at UConn as dean of the School of Fine Arts has only served to further enhance his reputation for superior arts administration. But no matter who is sitting on his front porch trying to lure him away, his heart belongs to Storrs. It was that way from the first time he visited, back when he had been asked to evaluate UConn\u2019s School of Fine Arts while still dean of the School of Music at IU. \u201cI was extremely impressed with this campus,\u201d he remembers. \u201cSo when I got a call asking, \u2018Don\u2019t you think you would like to come here?\u2019 I said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people are very grateful he did. That includes Lindsay, the dean\u2019s Friday-afternoon saxophone student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past year, I auditioned for and got into the University\u2019s symphonic band,\u201d Lindsay says. \u201cI\u2019m in a saxophone quartet. My hopes have come to fruition because of Dean Woods. And through our lessons, I\u2019ve gotten to know him as an incredible teacher, mentor, and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on supporting the School of Fine Arts, please contact the Foundation’s development department<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Fine Arts dean makes a major planned gift to the School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[43],"class_list":["post-24905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:10:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24905"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36442,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24905\/revisions\/36442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24905"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=24905"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=24905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}