New Endowed Fellowship

The $300,000 pledge will create a new endowed fellowship in the Department of Musicology

By Raymond Fleischmann

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is proud to announce a new endowed fellowship in musiciology that will help attract and support top doctoral students for generations to come. The student award is funded by a $300,000 pledge from Jacobs Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music J. Peter Burkholder and his husband Doug McKinney, who previously served as the head of Music Library Acquisitions at the Jacobs School’s William and Gayle Cook Music Library.

“This gift is a profound act of generosity, and it will change the trajectory of many students’ entire lives,” said Abra K. Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean of the Jacobs School. “We’re so grateful for Peter and Doug’s incredible generosity, and for their vision in creating this new fellowship. Peter and Doug understand what it takes for a graduate student to thrive during their studies: time, freedom, and the support of a community that truly believes in them.”

Before retiring in 2019, Burkholder spent more than three decades teaching in the Jacobs School’s Department of Musicology. Among other books, he’s the lead author of A History of Western Music, now in its 10th edition, and the Norton Anthology of Western Music, now in its 8th edition, both of which are cornerstones of the musicology field.

Dedicated philanthropists, Burkholder and McKinney have long supported the Jacobs School of Music and the Department of Musicology; they’ve created a travel fund for students and founded several student awards, among many other gifts. Their latest major gift is a striking testament to their devotion, not just to a department, but to the people who make it one.

“Peter has given so much of himself to the musicology department, and it has given him so much in return,” said McKinney. “We have made the department, its students, faculty, and their families an important part of our family. We wouldn’t be who we are without them. We want to help the students by giving them as much support as we can, especially for travel to help their research initiatives and for the department to be able to attract the best students.”

Burkholder echoes the same sentiment.

“Fellowships and scholarships are important to all our students,” he said. “Over the decades we have been part of the musicology department, we have seen dozens of students succeed and go on to wonderful careers, and we know how crucial scholarship and fellowship support has been for all of them.”