CSUSB Department of Music professor wins coveted 2024-25 Outstanding Professor Award

In a surprise announcement, professor of music Stacey Fraser was named the recipient of Cal State San Bernardino’s 2024-25 Outstanding Professor Award.

Fraser was in a meeting the morning of May 1 when university President Tomás D. Morales, accompanied by about 25 colleagues, fellow faculty members, staff and administrators, barged into the College of Arts and Letters Dean’s Office in University Hall to make the announcement.

Morales said it is a university tradition to present these outstanding faculty awards through a surprise declaration, where the president and fellow faculty members come right into and interrupt a classroom, lab, lecture hall or meeting to make the proclamation.

The award comes with the honor of being the John M. Pfau Endowed Professor; a $3,000 Faculty Professional Development Grant; the balance of the endowment in the form of a check; being honored at the Faculty Recognition Luncheon; and recognition at the awardee’s spring college commencement ceremony.

“We are here to present the 2024-25 Outstanding Professor Award to Stacey Fraser for her enduring excellence in teaching, research, scholarly activities, creative activities and service to our students and the university community,” said Morales. He went on to praise her eminence in her field combined with devotion to her students and colleagues, extraordinary performance record and grant funding, and service to the arts locally, regionally and nationally.

Fraser was both shocked and overcome with gratitude for this prestigious recognition.

“Thanks everybody. This is very nice,” she said with sincerity.

Fraser gave a special acknowledgement to her CSUSB colleagues Lesley Leighton, music department chair; mentor Terry Donovan Smith, professor of theatre arts; and Alastair Edmonstone, keyboard collaborative artist, who Fraser referred to as her “partner-in-crime.”

She extended her appreciation to her colleagues and staff in CSUSB’s theatre arts and music departments, sharing how she has been moonlighting with her theater colleagues since her arrival to CSUSB.

Kelly Campbell, vice provost for Academic Programs and university co-chief diversity officer, discussed Fraser’s positive impact on CSUSB students.

“On behalf of Provost [Rafik] Mohamed, who sends his regrets for not being here, and myself, congratulations on receiving CSUSB’s top faculty honor,” she said.

“As director of CSUSB’s Opera Theatre, Dr. Fraser has produced 25 operas and musical productions involving our students since 2014. These productions require extensive time and effort, ranging from developing the entire creative concept to working with designers and leading staging rehearsals,” she added. “Your dedication to student success, university service, and artistic excellence has greatly enriched our campus community.”

Campbell also noted that many of Fraser’s students have been accepted into top institutions — including NYU, the Manhattan School of Music, and the San Francisco Conservatory — and have secured contracts with prestigious organizations, reflecting the strength of her teaching and the lasting impact she has on her students' lives.

Fraser’s B.A. of Music Performance is from the University of Toronto, Canada; her Master of Music Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York; and her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of California, San Diego.

Fraser joined the CSUSB Department of Music in 2007 as an assistant professor, became associate professor in 2010, and was promoted to full professor, along with an appointment as the director of the university’s Opera Theatre, in 2014. She has served as head of the vocal area within the Department of Music. She has also served as chair of the department.

“As a member of a performance discipline,” said Morales, “she presents performances in lieu — and I have seen your performances, they are truly outstanding — of writing papers or being featured in academic publications.”

Those performances have been with well-known companies in Los Angeles County, Riverside County and San Bernardino County. She has also performed with San Diego Opera and the La Jolla Symphony. She presented a recital at New York City’s Columbia University recently, which comprised works by living composers.

Fraser is particularly dedicated to presenting works by living Asian-American composers, especially Chinary Ung and Koji Nakano.

The 2024-25 Awards Committee, composed of Fraser’s faculty peers, is headed up by chair Gisela Bichler (Department of Criminal Justice). Other members include Sara Callori (representing the College of Natural Sciences), Ying Cheng (representing the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration), Yawen Li (representing the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences), Shafiq Rahman (representing the College of Arts and Letters), and Viktor Wang (representing the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education).

As her nominator for the award said, “She is the complete package: teaching, performance/research, and service.”