Chaka Khan and Dennis Chambers accept Honorary Doctorates of Music

James Taylor lauds college's choice of Brown

BOSTON, December 3, 2004 — Earlier today, Berklee College of Music inaugurated its third president, Roger H. Brown, who revealed an ambitious set of goals for the Berklee of 2015. Before a packed Hynes Convention Center auditorium full of higher education, business, and music industry leaders, as well as the Berklee community, Brown vowed to build more state-of-the-art facilities, create access to music education for underprivileged students, and produce future leaders in the global music community to help re-imagine and rebuild the industry.

At the ceremony, vocal icon Chaka Khan and master drummer Dennis Chambers received honorary doctor of music degrees. Brown was "introduced" to those assembled by a variety of leaders, including performer James Taylor, educator and author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair William Donaldson, who was Brown's mentor while Brown was a graduate student at Yale University.

Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please e-mail us. From left: Berklee President Roger H. Brown, honorees Chaka Khan and Dennis Chambers, and Brown's wife, Linda Mason. Photo by Phil Farnsworth

James Taylor, in his role as introducer, said, "Berklee's choice of Roger H. Brown, and Brown's choice of Berklee, is a creative stroke of genius. Here is a man who walks tall in two different worlds. Proven over and again in the hard edged world of business, he has had a constant calling to be of service to humanity. He has followed his heart to Kenya, Sudan, and Cambodia, and now to our great benefit, he comes home to our beloved Berklee. The right man, in the right place, at the right time. And may I say," Taylor continued, to raucous laughter from the audience, "at the very least, the search committee have (also) avoided letting a professional musician run things here."

Donaldson, harking back to his days running the Yale MBA program, said, "Roger represents my dream of what could happen to those students as they moved out into in the real world, as well as some of the words I've been using: leadership, integrity, entrepreneurial zest, intelligence, willingness to question, social responsibility. That's Roger Brown."

In his inaugural address Brown noted the college's long tradition of attracting students from around the world, a group that has included jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi, Grammy-winning producer Arif Mardin, Latin music superstar Juan Luis Guerra, among many others, Brown emphasized Berklee's role on a global level: "We must become the best we can be not only because the music we teach and create is such a powerful force in changing the world — but because the world needs music and its ability to connect across culture and ethnicity more today than perhaps ever in our lifetimes."

Brown also quoted Berklee Professor Livingston Taylor, saying, "when a student goes to Harvard, it's the result of a concerted, 18-year effort on the part of the entire extended family to get that young person admitted. When a student comes to Berklee, it is often despite a concerted effort to talk her/him out it!"

Completing the thought, Brown explained that fully 70% of the college's entering class had applied only to Berklee, reflecting its singular position in higher education. Pledging to continue the college's history of innovation, he said, "Our students count on us to work hard, stay strong, and recommit to the revolutionary ideas that got us to the dance in the first place, and to keep dancing to the music, even when others cannot hear it."

Roger Brown assumed the Berklee presidency on June 1, 2004, succeeding Lee Eliot Berk. He is the first non-member of the Berk family in the college's 60-year history to take the helm at Berklee. Brown cofounded Bright Horizons Family Solutions in 1986 with his wife, Linda Mason, and served as its chief executive officer until January 2002.

Prior to 1986, he was codirector of the Save the Children relief and development effort in Sudan and has worked on the border of Thailand with Cambodian refugees for CARE and UNICEF.

Brown also recognized Chaka Khan and Dennis Chambers for their lifetime achievements in music. An eight-time Grammy winner, Khan's reputation as an exciting onstage performer goes back to her early years when Rufus made an impact on the music world with one platinum album, five gold albums, five gold singles, five number one hits, and two Grammy awards. Among those many enduring hits: "Sweet Thing," "Tell Me Something Good," "Everlasting Love" and "Ain't Nobody."

Khan, who is celebrating her 30th year in music, has been honored with six Grammy awards for her solo work. A constant fixture on the global best-selling charts, Khan's many classic hits include "I'm Every Woman," "Through the Fire," and the million-selling "I Feel For You." Her latest release is ClassicKhan.

Dennis Chambers, who started playing the drums at age four, received all his musical training by playing nightclubs.  In 1978, he went straight from high school to play with the legendary Parliament and Funkadelic, then in 1985, he joined the group Special EFX. Since then, Chambers has played with Bill Evans, George Duke, the Brecker Brothers Band, and many others. Known for his propulsive, clean style, Chambers picked up the torch from the fusion drummers of the early '70s. He has released three albums as a leader and recently became the drummer in Santana.

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.

For editorial information or digital photos, the media may contact:

Margot Edwards
(617) 747-2004
medwards@berklee.edu

Allen Bush
(617) 747-2658
abush@berklee.edu