Collins, Walter S. (1926-1997) | University of Illinois Archives

Name: Collins, Walter S. (1926-1997)

Historical Note: Walter S. Collins was born January 12, 1926, in West Hartford, Connecticut and died June 30, 1997 in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. He received two degrees from Yale University, his bachelor’s in 1948 and a master’s in music in 1951. He also received a master’s and doctorate degree from the University of Michigan in 1955 and 1960. He first taught at the Hotchkiss School, Auburn University, the University of Minnesota and Oakland University near Detroit before coming to the University of Colorado Boulder in 1971. At Oakland University, he was the founding chairman of the music department and began the Meadow Brook School of Music. From 1971 to 1988 he was an associate dean for graduate studies at the College of Music at the University of Colorado, where he also taught choral music and musicology. Collins served as ACDA President (1977–79) at a fulcrum point between the leadership of Executive Secretaries Wayne Hugoboom and Gene Brooks—a time when the National Office had just moved from Tampa, Florida to Lawton, Oklahoma. He worked to refine the language of ACDA’s constitution and bylaws, which he presented to the membership in 1979. He also implemented an improved protocol for financial accountability and wrote and distributed two new organizational handbooks on the fiscal policies and procedures of ACDA. In April of 1982, he announced the formation of the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM).