Keeril Makan becomes associate dean of the MIT School of Humanities

Makan will lead special projects, while continuing to serve as section head for Music and Theater Arts

Keeril Makan, a composer and professor of South African Indian and Russian Jewish descent, has become Associate Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. He began his term effective July 1.

Makan will serve concurrently as Associate Dean and in his current role as section head of Music and Theater Arts, according to Agustín Rayo, Kenan Sahin Dean of SHASS.

“Throughout my time as dean, I’ve been consistently impressed by Keeril’s leadership and insight as head of MTA. I look forward to working with him at the school level and relying on his advice,” Rayo said.

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Makan, who was raised in New Jersey by parents of South African Indian and Russian Jewish descent, says he’s looking forward to bringing his collaborative leadership approach to this new role.

“One of the things that excites me about being head of MTA is working on larger projects that advance the mission of the unit, the mission of the Institute, and have a large impact on the community,” he said.

“This involves getting a lot of people together from different parts of MIT, working towards a common goal, skills that I’ve developed through my work as a composer,” Makan said.

“I look forward to working in this way at the SHASS-wide level, as well as finding common ground between SHASS and the STEM fields.”

Makan started at MIT in 2006, and was named section head of MTA in 2018. In addition to being section head, Makan is currently the Michael (1949) and Sonja Koerner Music Composition Professor.

Among the projects Makan has helped lead as section head has been the construction of the new Music Building, which is set to open in the Fall of 2024.

He’s also worked to develop MTA’s music technology offerings, including the upcoming launch of a new master’s program, joint with the School of Engineering. Makan says one of his biggest challenges was leading Music and Theater Arts through the Covid pandemic.

“Performance was particularly challenging in music and theater. But we worked collaboratively to create an educational experience for the students that was artistically meaningful. The experience of COVID taught the world the power of being in a room together, sharing an experience” he says.

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Rayo says Makan will lead special projects, and that they’ll work together over the summer to set an agenda for the new role.

After training as a violinist, Makan received degrees in composition and religion from Oberlin and completed his PhD in composition at the University of California-Berkeley, with additional studies in Helsinki and Paris.

He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Luciano Berio Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, among other accolades.

His music has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, and performed at the LA Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Tanglewood.