UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sue Ellen Haug, professor of music and piano in the College of Arts and Architecture, is the winner of the 2018 McKay Donkin Award.
Established in 1969 in honor of the late McKay Donkin, who served as vice president and treasurer of the University from 1957 to 1968, the award is presented to a full-time member of the faculty or staff or to a retiree who has contributed most to the “economic, physical, mental or social welfare of the faculty” of the University. The contribution should be for duties or services above and beyond the recipient’s regularly assigned duties.
Haug served as director of the School of Music from 2005 to 2017, stepping down as she is nearing retirement. In that time, she brought energy by instituting new programs and exercising her vision while uniting everyone around shared goals and a common sense of purpose, colleagues said. The highly diverse school brings together scholars, performers, conductors, composers and educators, offering programs and courses that serve about 300 music majors as well as thousands of students who enjoy outstanding general education offerings in music each year.
Haug’s many contributions include:
● Establishing the President’s Concerts, which are presented annually at concert venues such as the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York;
● working to strengthen collaborations with the School of Theatre and Center for the Performing Arts, leading to such outstanding performances as Bernstein’s “Mass” (2013) and Puccini’s LaBohéme (2015) at Eisenhower Auditorium;
● gaining approval for the construction of a critically needed new Recital Hall and for renovations to Music Building I, now well underway and due to be completed by Fall 2018.
● nearly doubling the funding available in scholarships for incoming undergraduate students while also working to retain the number of graduate assistants.; and
● creating a community-university partnership to support Penn’s Woods Music Festival, the school’s summer professional music festival, which was re-started in 2008.
“Haug has devoted herself to the students, faculty and staff while fostering the ideals of excellence, cooperation and responsibility at the unit, college and University levels,” a colleague said. “She has been instrumental in raising the profile of the School of Music by being a visionary and decisive leader and by encouraging the highest standards in all areas.”