Scott Deal, the 2024 Last Lecturer, is a Professor of Music Technology and Director of the Donald Tavel Arts and Technology Research Center at Herron School of Art and Design. His talk, A Musical Life in the Academy, will highlight impactful people, conversations, and experiences that have shaped his 33-year career. These include what he has learned about staying open to synchronicity, leaning into interdisciplinarity, embracing failure, and finding a teaching style.
As a percussionist, Deal has performed solo and chamber music throughout the world. His research specialization is live musical performance engaged with computational interactivity. Professor Deal’s Last Lecture will feature a brief live musical performance on the vibraphone as an introduction. The lecture will include life stories about personal connections, his life’s winding paths, and the most impactful experiences and conversations of his 33-year career through which he intends to pass on wisdom he has gained to the university community and the public. His intention is to distill 33 years of inquiry, reflection, and service into a lecture that will edify and serve colleagues, students, and the public.
The Last Lecture is hosted by the Senior Academy, the Office of Academic Affairs, and the Indiana University Foundation.