LAKELAND, Fla. (March 29, 2006) — Robert M. MacDonald, artist-in-residence, received the Exemplary Teaching Award of the Higher Education Commission of the United Methodist Church during Florida Southern College’s Founders Day events on March 21. 

After forty-one years at Florida Southern as a professor, department chair, artist-in-residence and Festival of Fine Arts director, Robert MacDonald has become an icon, bringing to the college respect, admiration and recognition from communities on local, state, national and international levels.

“The fact that Florida Southern College has enjoyed the reputation, artistry, and teaching insight of this esteemed pianist for over four decades speaks volumes about his commitment to this institution,” said Susan Conner, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. “The breadth of his influence and extent of his profile on and off campus stand as a monument to Robert MacDonald’s many varied contributions to the college – past and present.”

From their study with him, pianists have gone on to win competitions, attend prestigious graduate schools and conservatories, and become formidable artists, teachers and professors. His contributions as a performer have enriched audiences in venues as varied as New York, Vienna, Washington, Salzburg and Los Angeles.  He performs concertos with symphony orchestras, collaboratively (often with his actress-wife Ingrid and actress-singer-daughter Sona), and as a solo recitalist.

As director of the Festival of Fine Arts series, now in its forty-sixth year, MacDonald brings his exhaustive knowledge of music and theatre to produce a series unrivaled in southeastern colleges and universities in both the variety and the quality of events. 

Under his departmental leadership, MacDonald saw the department grow to a full-time faculty of eleven and more than one hundred music majors.  He guided the department through the process of adding competitive professional music degrees to the music program and, most visibly, oversaw the opening in 2000 of the Music Building in the Robert Davis Performing Arts Center.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.