History of the Katherine K. Herberger
College of the Arts at ASU

Founded in 1964, the College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University welcomed its first class of students at the beginning of fall semester 1965. The college consisted of the departments of Art, Music, and Speech and Drama. A fourth unit, the University Art Museum, was dedicated to research, conservation and preservation of works of art.

In 2000, the College of Fine Arts was named The Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts, in honor of Valley arts philanthropist Katherine K. "Kax" Herberger. A longtime Phoenix resident, Mrs. Herberger championed the support and growth of the College of Fine Arts and encouraged its community outreach programs.

Henry A. Bruinsma served as the first Dean of Fine Arts. He was no stranger to the ASU campus when he took the reins of the new college. From 1955 to 1956, he served as chair of the Department of Music at ASU (then Arizona State College). Dean Bruinsma guided the College of Fine Arts for 10 years.

William Arnold served as acting dean from 1975 to 1976. Jules Heller held the position from 1976 to 1985. Walter Harris served as acting dean from 1985 to 1986. Seymour L. Rosen held the position from 1986 to 1994. J. Robert Wills was dean from 1994 until his retirement in summer 2006.

The college's present dean, Kwang-Wu Kim, joined ASU in summer 2006. He was the president of Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 2001 to 2006. Kim's prior experience includes artistic and administrative director positions with El Paso Pro-Musica and the El Paso Chamber Music Festival, which he co-founded. Kim holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's degree in philosophy, magna cum laude, from Yale University.

In its infancy, the faculty and staff of the college totaled 80. Today, this figure has grown to approximately 300 faculty and staff.

The primary mission of the Herberger College of the Arts focuses on learning and teaching, which dovetails perfectly with its public presentation of visual and performing works created by students, faculty and staff. The college accomplishes this through its five academic units: the School of Art; the School of Music; the Department of Dance; the School of Theatre and Film; the Arts, Media and Engineering Program (AME); and its research unit: the ASU Art Museum.

The college can be found in several locations on the main ASU Tempe campus, including the Art Building, Dixie Gammage Hall, Music Building, Physical Education Building East, Nelson Fine Arts Center and Matthews Center. Performance venues include the Paul V. Galvin Playhouse, Evelyn Smith Music Theatre, Katzin Concert Hall, the Lyceum and Prism Theatres; the Dance Studio Theatre in Physical Education Building East; and ASU Gammage Auditorium.