Jacobs School of Music dean Gwyn Richards said, "Leonard Slatkin is universally admired in our profession for his commitment to the highest of artistic standards, to the education of musicians and to the music of our time. We are honored to have him join us at Indiana University."

Slatkin, who has made several guest appearances at the IU Summer Music Festival, has been since 1996 music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. (a position he leaves at the end of next season); he was recently appointed music advisor, for a three-season term, to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. He also is principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

He has also been active in initiating educational initiatives during his career. He is the founder and director of the National Conducting Institute, an advanced career development program for rising conductors based at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Through the National Symphony Orchestra's American Residencies project (in which the NSO visits a different state each year) Slatkin has worked with student ensembles and conductors in 11 states; he also founded the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and also has worked with student orchestras across the U.S.

The Jacobs School of Music has been on a hiring binge of late: among the recent additions to the faculty are sopranos Sylvia McNair and Carol Vaness, violinist Jaime Laredo, cellist Sharon Robinson and pianist Andr_ Watts.