Ernest Campbell Mead Jr. (June 13, 1918 – February 13, 2014) was professor of music and former head of the McIntire Department of Music at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. Born at Richmond in 1918, Mead was interested in music as a child, studying with the composer John Powell in Richmond. When he arrived at the University of Virginia, he brought with him a Steinway piano. While a student at the university, he was a member of the

Virginia Glee Club The Virginia Glee Club is a men's chorus based at the University of Virginia. It performs both traditional and contemporary vocal works typically in TTBB arrangements. Founded in 1871, the Glee Club is the university's oldest musical organization ...

. Mead graduated from the University of Virginia in 1940 with a major in music, German language and literature. He went on to Harvard University to earn his Ph.D. Mead's musical research focused on instrumental ensembles; his doctoral dissertation focused on the instrumental works of

Girolamo Frescobaldi Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of k ...

. He returned to the University of Virginia in 1953 as a professor. As chairman of the McIntire School of Music in the

University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences The University of Virginia College of Arts & Sciences is the largest of the University of Virginia's ten schools. Consisting of both a graduate and an undergraduate program, the College comprises the liberal arts and humanities section of the Uni ...

, Mead was instrumental in securing donations to establish the U.Va. Music Library. He also worked with University professor Walter Ross to re-establish a university orchestra in 1967, now called the Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra. His office in the university's Old Cabell Hall was famous for its position "beneath the truth," that is, under the words "the truth" in the carving on the pediment, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." He retired from active teaching in 1996. From 1972 on, Mead taught a liberal arts seminar at the university, continuing into his retirement. Friends of Mead established the Mead Endowment to "continue his legacy of faculty-student interaction" He is a recipient of numerous University awards, including the faculty awards of the IMP Society, Z Society, and

Raven Society The Raven Society is an honor society at the University of Virginia, founded in 1904 by University student William McCully James, and named in honor of the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, who attended UVa in 1826. According to its constitution, on ...

; the Gilbert J. Sullivan Distinguished Service Award from the

Alumni & Friends Association; and the university's Thomas Jefferson Award "for advancing, through his character, work, and personal example, the ideals and objectives for which Jefferson founded the University." Upon his death, it was revealed that he was a member of the

Seven Society The Seven Society (founded 1905) is the most secretive of the University of Virginia's secret societies. Members are only revealed after their death, when a wreath of black magnolias in the shape of a "7" is placed at the gravesite, the bell to ...

. Mead died at Charlottesville on February 13, 2014, aged 95.

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* University of Virginia alumni Harvard University alumni University of Virginia faculty 1918 births 2014 deaths {{academic-bio-stub