About Doug

I am a conductor and teacher with a passion for beauty in art, thought, and expression, and I am constantly experimenting and learning.

My background is eclectic, and I always find myself drawing on the whole of my experience, whether I am conducting an orchestra, facilitating a discussion in the classroom or conference room, or designing a practical website.

On this page you will find—in distilled form—information that will give you a sense of who I am professionally.

Multi-resumé

My multi-resumé is a textual, graphical, and pictoral representation of my skills and experience as a conductor and professor. The interactive presentation will open in a separate browser window. (Viewable if your browser has the current Flash plugin installed)

Resumé

Education

Claremont Graduate School, California. Music – D.M.A. 1997, M.A. 1995

University of California at Berkeley, California. Physics – M.A. 1993

Harvey Mudd College, California. Physics – B.S. 1990

Graduated with high distinction and honors in humanities and social sciences.

Experience

Conducting

Visiting Conductor, Claremont Concert Orchestra, Claremont, California, Spring 2008.

Guest Conductor, Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, 2006–present.

Conductor, Classical Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, Eisenstadt, Austria, 2005–2006.

Inaugural Conductor, Fiori Musicali String Orchestra, Ventura, California, April 2005.

Guest Conductor, Sinfonietta Hungarica, Budapest, March 2005.

Assistant Conductor, Classical Music Festival, Eisenstadt, Austria, 2001–2006.

Conductor, New Mexico Tech Ensembles, 1997–present.

Conductor, Animas Music Festival, 1997–present.

Principal Guest Conductor, Showcase Chamber Players and Choir, 1999–2000.

Conductor, National Symposium on American Women in Music, October 1995.

Teaching

Associate Professor of Music, New Mexico Tech, 2001–present.

Granted early tenure.

Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering, New Mexico Tech, 2001–present.

Teach courses and course segments on leadership, listening skills, teamwork, and problem solving

Assistant Professor of Music, New Mexico Tech, 1997–2001.

Visiting Lecturer in Physics, Pomona College, 1995–1997.

Teaching Assistant in Physics, UC Berkeley, 1991–1993.

Taught sections of a physics survey course for non-majors.

Selected Courses Taught, 2001–present

Administrative

Chair, Humanities Department. 2005–2008.

Co-Founder and Co-Director, Women's Resource Center, New Mexico Tech, 2001–present.

Associate Managing Director, Classical Music Festival, Eisenstadt, Austria, 2001–2006.

Music Program Director, New Mexico Tech, 1997–present.

Music Director, Animas Music Festival, 1997–2000.

Other

Founder and President, Dunston Sommer Innovation Group, LLC., 1999–2004.

Research interests

Creativity and innovation. Leadership, facilitation, and negotiation.

Presentations, arrangements, publications

New Mexico Tech Electrical Engineering and Physics Departments Joint Seminar, 2007. "Problem Solving with TRIZ"

Women Lawyers of Ventura County, 2005. "Answer-resistant Problems and a Model of Practical Creativity"

Eastern New Mexico University Graduate Student Association, 2003. "Practical Leadership; Practical Creativity" (Invited speaker)

New Mexico Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professorate, 2003. "Practical Leadership" (Invited speaker)

Co-coordinator, New Mexico Women's Studies Conference, 2003.

Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of Women in Engineering and Science, 2002. "Students' Epistemologies in Science and Engineering: Paths to Responsibility and Connection"

New Mexico Tech Humanities Faculty Research Seminar, 2002. "Answer-resistant Problems and a Model of Practical Creativity"

New Mexico Women's Studies Conference, 2001. "One-in-three" (Sound recording)

New Mexico Conference on Assessment and Retention, 2000. "Establishing a Multidisciplinary Humanities Course to Strengthen Retention"

The Mother Goose Suite, 1999. (Music arrangement and new English text)

A to Z Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Music, 1998. (Biographical entries)

College Music Society, Pacific-Southern Chapter, 1998. "Musica Mundana: Gravity and Music"

College Music Society, Pacific-Southern Chapter, 1996. "Copies as Originals: Aspects of Nonoriginality in Music and the Arts"

Seminar participation

National Science Foundation Short Course "Creativity and Innovation", 2000.

Lore International Courses "High-Impact Facilitation" and "Effective Coaching", 1999.

Visiting Scholar, Claremont Colleges Faculty Development Seminar in Music, 1998.

Awards and honors

National Novel Writing Month Winner, 2004. Draft novel "Windmills"

Winners of the National Novel Writing Month are those who begin and complete a 50,000 word draft between November 1st and 30th. The draft of "Windmills" is being revised for publication.

JL Foundation All-Claremont Fellow, 1994–1997.

National Science Foundation Fellow, Physics Department, UC Berkeley, 1991–1993.

Watson Fellow, 1990–1991.

Apprenticed to brass instrument maker Rainer Egger in Basel, Switzerland. Designed and constructed rotary-valve high G trumpet, first used in concerts in Eisenstadt and Vienna, Austria, August, 1991.

Astronaut Scholar, 1989–1990.

Arizona Honors Academy Fellow, 1989. Intensive, multidisciplinary seminar on issues of nuclear arms control.

Language skills

Fluent in German.

Computer skills

Music in Finale, Sibelius, Digital Performer.

Web and graphic design in Adobe Flash and Dreamweaver.