Title: Musicologist (Retired), Emeritus Professor
Company: State University of New York at Oswego
Location: Oswego, New York, United States
Marilynn J. Smiley, PhD, Distinctive Teaching Professor Emerita of the State University of New York at Oswego, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in Musicology.
Dr. Smiley retired in 2014 after 40 years with the title of distinguished teaching professor at SUNY Oswego, the culmination of 60 years of musical education. She continues to be a part of the Oswego musical community as president of the board of directors of the Oswego Opera Theater. Dr. Smiley has been a prolific educator and civic contributor, notably assuming many positions in the American Association of University Women at both the state and local levels, and is currently serving as co-president of the Oswego Branch since 2007.
Born to Orla Raymond and Mary Jane Smiley in Columbia City, Indiana, Dr. Smiley was a state scholar of Ball State University, where she received her BS degree in 1954, and entered teaching as a public school music teacher in Logansport, Indiana. She further matriculated toward a MM in 1958 from Northwestern University, and in 1959 was certified by the Ecoles d’Art Americaines in Fontainebleau, France. In 1961, she joined the faculty music department of SUNY Oswego while continuing to study as a graduate scholar and Delta Kappa Gamma scholar at the University of Illinois. In 1970, Dr. Smiley earned a PhD in musicology and four years later was named distinguished teaching professor, followed by the role of chairman of her department from 1976 to 1981. During the 1972 spring semester, she taught in the study abroad program in Pisa, Italy.
Dr. Smiley has been recognized for her remarkable career with a 1973 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and has further been honored as a 1990 to 1991 National Endowment of the Humanities Grantee and a SUNY Research Foundation Fellow in 1971, 1972, and 1974.
She is a member of the honor societies Phi Kappa Phi, Kappa Delta Pi, Sigma Tau Delta, Sigma Alpha Iota, Pi Kappa Lambda, Delta Phi Alpha, Phi Delta Kappa, Mu Beta Psi, and Delta Kappa Gamma, where she held the position of music chair in the state of Indiana in 1961 and the state of New York in 1968. In her vast collection of society memberships, Dr. Smiley is notable for her participation in local Oswego historical groups, as well as national professional organizations, especially the Society for American Music, and the American Musicological Society, in which she has served on committees and presented scholarly papers. Her research on Renaissance music and American music has also resulted in publications in journals and books. She has provided background information for historical concerts of the Ontario Singers from 1986 to 2003, directed, and played in the Oswego Recorder Consort from 1995 to 2012. Her research is continuing after her retirement from SUNY Oswego in 2014.
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