William Gibbons
Dr. William Gibbons is the Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS). A leading music scholar, Gibbons’ wide-ranging research explores the intersections of the arts, humanities, and technology in contemporary culture, especially in video games. He earned a PhD in Musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MA in Musicology from UNC Chapel Hill, and a BA in Music (magna cum laude) from Emory & Henry College.
Prior to joining RPI, Gibbons served as Dean of The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, one of the oldest and largest schools of music in the Northeast. At Crane, Gibbons directed the creation and revision of innovative new curricula, developed partnerships with industry leaders, and successfully acted as lead fundraiser for the school. Before SUNY Potsdam, Gibbons served as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University, where he oversaw undergraduate and graduate programs in art, dance, design, fashion, music, and theater, and directed an interdisciplinary program in arts leadership and entrepreneurship.
As an educator and administrator, Dr. Gibbons aims to show how music can play a key role in contemporary conversations around equity, ethics, and leadership through courses like "Music, Technology, and Values," "Musical Theater and American Politics," and "Examining Ethical Leadership." As a researcher, Gibbons investigates the past's role in shaping how we interpret and value music today, from the history of classical music as an idea, to how music impacts contemporary media.
In addition to dozens of books, articles, and chapters, Gibbons also co-edited the recent Oxford Handbook of Video Game Music and Sound (Oxford, 2024) as well as the essay collections Music in Video Games (Routledge, 2014) and Music in the Role-Playing Game (Routledge, 2020). His book Unlimited Replays: Video Games and Classical Music (Oxford, 2018) explores the relationship between games and the arts from the early arcade to the contemporary concert hall.
A new co-edited volume with Brepols press, Global Histories of Video Game Music Technology (expected publication 2025), promises to break new ground by de-centering North America and highlighting previously unexplored game history, arts, and technology from many countries around the world. In high demand as a public speaker, Gibbons regularly delivers invited lectures, keynotes, and pre-concert talks at universities, conferences, and concert venues across the United States and Europe.