RICHARD C. GIPSON was appointed Interim Dean of the TCU College of Fine Arts in August 2018. Prior to that he served as Director of the TCU School of Music for 16 years. He continues to teach percussion and occasionally conducts the TCU Percussion Orchestra and Ensembles. Prior to his TCU appointment, he served for 26 years as Professor of Percussion on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma School of Music, where at times he also held several administrative positions, including Director of the School of Music, Executive Assistant to the President, and Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Dr. Gipson performed as timpanist and percussionist for more than 30 years with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Oklahoma Symphony, and the Austin and Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestras.

He holds a doctorate from Penn State University, and undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Texas. In addition to TCU and OU, he taught percussion at the University of Texas, Central Missouri State University, Susquehanna University, and Penn State University. His more than 30 original compositions and special arrangements for marimba and percussion ensemble are published by Southern Music Company, Studio 4 Productions, Columbia Pictures Publications, Keyboard Percussion Publications, and the OU Percussion Press, and his four commercial compact disc recordings with the OU Percussion Orchestra helped set the standard for performance and recording in that genre. He commissioned and/or premiered more than three dozen works for percussion orchestra and ensemble, including some of the now iconic works for percussion. While he was at OU, the OU Percussion Orchestra was competitively selected to perform at PASIC in 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2001.

Under his leadership, the TCU School of Music has grown in stature locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.  Enrollment has doubled; faculty and staff size has increased significantly; and School of Music facilities have expanded greatly, including a $53M new music building scheduled to open in Fall 2020.  Relationships and programs within the institution and with local partner arts organizations are strong and vibrant and continue to grow and develop.

In 2017 he received the Lifetime Achievement in Education Award from the Percussive Arts Society and was named Music Administrator of the Year by the College Orchestra Directors Association. Dr. Gipson is a member of PAS and NASM, where he serves as a visiting evaluator chair.