School of FIne Arts

Professor receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Alicia Clair, professor of music therapy

Professor of Music Therapy Alicia Clair was awarded the 2003 American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual AMTA conference in late November in Minneapolis.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor given by the AMTA, and recognizes therapists for long-term efforts toward the development and growth of the profession, Mary Adamek, president of the American Music Therapy Association, wrote in the award's announcement.

"The longevity and sheer volume of her published research on music therapy with the elderly, and in particular with persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, constitutes a body of knowledge in and of itself," Adamek said.

Clair has specialized in music therapy practice with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias and their professional and family caregivers since 1988. She also has worked with elderly who have disabilities, as well as healthy older adults, since 1975. Read More

Design professor to represent KU in I.D. Magazine

Lance Rake, associate professor of design at the University of Kansas, was recently selected as the representative designer from Kansas in I.D. magazine, a noted design publication.

Rake is one of 50 designers who will be featured in the January/February issue of the magazine, which hits newsstands Dec. 30 and commemorates its 50th anniversary.

"I came across several interesting possibilities to represent Kansas, but what appealed to me about Lance ... was his teaching method, as well as his involvement in the general aviation industry," said David Sokol, managing editor at the magazine.

"His work with aircraft manufacturers is important both academically and for the Kansas economy, since aviation is such a major component," said Interim Design Department Chair Tom Beisecker, who nominated Rake for the I.D. magazine honor. "I thought we should point out both that design for the aircraft industry is important at KU, and that Lance and his group of students have done an excellent job." Read More

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