News & Events
NEWS
World-renowned American composer, Dr. Leslie Bassett (BA Music 1947) was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Fine Arts by Fresno State President John D. Welty at this year’s 98th Commencement on May 23, 2009.
Born in Hanford, Dr. Bassett completed his Bachelor of Arts in Music at Fresno State and went on to study composition at the University of Michigan. During World War II, he served as trombonist, composer and arranger for the 13th Armored Division Band in Europe. After graduating from Fresno State in 1947, Dr. Bassett continued his composition studies with Nadia Boulanger at L’Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris on a Fulbright Fellowship. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1976 and was the recipient of grants from the Koussevitzky Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Dr. Bassett’s Pulitzer Prize-winning composition, Variations for Orchestra, represented the United States at the 1966 International Rostrum for Composers in Paris and has enjoyed numerous and continued performances by renowned orchestras throughout the world.
Dr. Bassett taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1952 to 1991, where he was chair of the composition department from 1970 to 1988. He held the prestigious Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor of Music from 1977 to 1991. Dr. Bassett co-founded the UM electronic music studio and its Contemporary Directions Ensemble.
In 2000, Dr. Bassett returned to Fresno State as a guest artist for the CSU Summer Arts program and remains connected to the Department of Music.
Pictured here from left to right: Dr. José A. Diaz, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Humanities; Professor Helene Joseph-Weil, Professor of Voice; Distinguished Music Alumnus, Dr. Leslie Bassett; Dr. Vida Samiian, Dean, College of Arts and Humanities; and Professor Thomas Hiebert, Chair, Department of Music.
Arts and Humanities Degrees Awarded for 2008-2009
562 undergraduate students and 99 graduate students earned degrees in the various disciplines under the College of Arts and Humanities:
Art and Design
• BA in Art, Studio Arts 46
• BA in Art, Graphic Design 35
• BA in Interior Design 36
• MA in Art 8
Communication
• BA in Communication 95
• MA in Communication 12
English
• BA in English, English Major 49
• BA in English, English Education 37
• MA in English, Composition Theory 3
• MA in English, Literature 7
• MFA in Creative Writing 19
Linguistics
• BA in Linguistics. TESL 10
• BA in Linguistics, General Linguistics 1
• BA in Linguistics, Interdisciplinary Lang. Studies 2
• BA in Linguistics, Computational Linguistics 1
• MA in Linguistics, TESL 28
• MA in Linguistics 6
Mass Communication and Journalism
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Advertising 24
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Broadcast Journalism 20
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Digital Media 15
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Electronic Media Prod. 17
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Photojournalism 3
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Print Journalism 7
• BA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Public Relations 30
Modern and Classical Languages and Litaeratures
• BA in French 5
• BA in Spanish 54
Music
• BA in Music, Music as a Liberal Art 3
• BA in Music, Music Education 12
• BA in Music, Instrumental Performance 4
• BA in Music, Vocal Performance 3
• BA in Music, Composition 7
• MA in Music, Music Education 3
• MA in Music, Performance 13
Philosophy
• BA in Philosophy, Prelaw 11
• BA in Philosophy, Religious Studies 5
• BA in Philosophy 10
Theatre Arts
• BA in Theatre Arts 18
• BA in Theatre Arts, Dance 2
EVENTS
College of Arts and Humanities
California State University, Fresno
2009–2010 Lecture Series
featuring
Distinguished Alumnus
Sidney B. Cox, B.A. Journalism 1952
Founder Cox Communications
Thursday, November 5
1:00 PM
McKee Fisk 242
Sidney B. Cox was born in Marshall, OK, the oldest of four children of a farming family. Like the Joads in the ‘Grapes of Wrath’, the Cox family left Oklahoma in 1937 during the dust bowl and settled in Fresno near Kearney Park. Sid graduated from Clovis High then went to Reedley College. He transferred to Fresno State and majored in journalism.
A banner year for Sid was 1952 when he graduated from Fresno State, married Norma Jane Foster of Mendota and began a two year stint in the Army Signal Corps during the Korean War. Sid also began working as a reporter for KMJ Radio and TV, and later for the Fresno Bee. In the late 1960s he became Vice President of Producers Cotton Oil, and in 1988 Sid started his own company, Cox Communications, a public relations consultancy. Sid has been active in many civic and educational organizations. Most recently he served as general chairman for two multi-million dollar building campaigns benefitting Children’s Hospital Central California and Break the Barriers. He has chaired the boards of both organizations. Among other leadership roles, Sid is past president of the Rotary Club of Fresno, a charter board member of Central Valley Community Bank and the chairman of the President’s Advisory Council at Fresno State.
Sid has received many honors including the Fresno Chamber of Commerce Leon S. Peters Award, the Sequoia Council Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award and the Most Outstanding Contributor Award from the Fresno State School of Ag Sciences and Technology. “I am proud of Fresno State’s ranking as one of the leading universities in California,” says Sid. “I’m especially proud of its emphasis on agriculture, with accompanying outreach through AgOne scholarships.” Sid, Norma and sons Kevin and Randall have all attended Fresno State and grandson Conner is a senior this year.