Frank L. Clark, the former chair of the Department of Music at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, has been appointed professor and director of the Music Department at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He began Aug. 1.

"We're excited about Dr. Clark's appointment, and we look forward to his leadership," said Thomas Galloway, dean of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture, home of the Institute's Music Department. "His passion for music and technology should be an invaluable strength for our students, many of whom share the same such passion."

Clark comes to Georgia Tech from the University of South Alabama, where he joined the faculty in 1992. He served as acting chair of USA's Department of Music between 1996 and 1999, when he was appointed full chair. While in Mobile, Clark coordinated USA's music theory courses and helped design, install, develop and supervise a multimedia Musical Instrument Digital Interface lab and classroom.

Previously, Clark was a department coordinator at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, between 1983 and 1986. He also was an assistant professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, from 1986 to 1990. Between 1990 and 1992, Clark was an assistant professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, where he taught music theory, conducted a jazz band and helped design and develop the university's Arts Resources Technology/Computer Assisted Training Laboratory.

Clark is a member of the Technology Institute for Music Educators' National Advisory Board and is among the presenters in the College Music Society's Speakers Bureau. He frequently addresses the topics of multimedia applications, the growth of music technology and the use of such technology in the music studio.

In 1980, Clark earned a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in Stockton, Calif. The next year, he earned a master's degree in french horn performance at Stanford University. He earned his Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Arizona in 1990.