Taking Notes on Music

The lyrical roots of Afro-American culture run deep and wide. From Louis Armstrong to Lauryn Hill from Marvin Gaye to Michael Jackson, the Afro-American tradition has been infused with rhythm and blues, fervor and funk. Thus it seems only appropriate that the Afro-American Studies Department has been endowed with a chair for a permanent professorship dedicated to the study of black music. We wholeheartedly welcome the new addition.

The professorship, which will be shared jointly with the music department, was endowed by the Time Warner Corporation. Time Warner is the first company to endow a permanent professorship in Afro-American studies at any American university, and its willingness to act as the flagship for this field of study is commendable.

Moreover, the new professorship, named in honor of renowned musician Quincy Jones, directly attests to the prominent position the Harvard Afro-American Studies Department holds in the field, as well as in academia as a whole. Several top-tier universities have Afro-American studies departments, making Time Warner's decision to entrust Harvard with its money symbolic of the University's unparalleled commitment to Afro-American studies over the past 10 years under President Neil L. Rudenstine's tenure.