Breland named vice provost and dean

A. Barron Breland, DM, was named vice provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs and dean of the Graduate School.

Breland, who holds a Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, has been on the faculty at Creighton for 14 years, starting as an assistant professor in 2008. He was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and professor in 2020. Breland was named chair of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts in 2016.

He currently serves as president of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association (a state affiliate of the American Choral Directors Association), is a governing member of the Omaha Symphony, and is on the board of advisors for Opera Omaha.

Breland serves on the Faculty and Academic Councils for the University, and for the past two years has been the Arts and Sciences representative on the Executive Committee. He also serves on the University Athletic Board and the Committee on Committees, and was a member of the University’s National Target Market Strategy Working Group and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. In the College of Arts and Sciences, he has served on the Magis Core Curriculum Committee and serves on the Steering Committee for the Faculty Senate and on the Council of Chairs.

In this new position, Breland will help with the planning, directing, evaluating and developing  of undergraduate and graduate programs; collaborating with other divisions of the University to analyze and develop recommendations in response to evolving issues; and providing leadership for achieving select strategic initiatives.