Music Lecturer and Recording Technician Mark Schulz Dies
April 01, 2016
Mark Schulz (center), pictured with Old Dominion students at the soundboard, ran the University's state-of-the-art recording studio.
Mark Schulz, a lecturer in Old Dominion University's Department of Music who directed the department's state-of-the-art recording studio, died Thursday, March 31 following a prolonged illness.
Schulz was a musician and an award-winning sound technician who taught in Ohio before coming to Old Dominion in 2014. At Old Dominion, he taught classes in the use of recording software Pro Tools and live audio engineering. He also managed the Chandler Recital Hall along with the recording studio in the Diehn Center for the Performing Arts.
Last spring, Schulz received Old Dominion's "Shining Star" award, presented on behalf of the Division of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services to faculty members for their efforts to help students succeed academically, professionally and personally inside and outside of the classroom.
"Mark excelled at his work," said John Toomey, outgoing chair of the Department of Music. "He was a great teacher, and his students loved him."
Schulz arrived at Old Dominion to direct the studio, the centerpiece to an addition of classrooms and practice studios in the Diehn Center. The University started a music industry degree program in 2014. Thanks in large part to Schulz's efforts, Toomey said last fall, Old Dominion students had the guidance, along with $500,000 worth of top equipment, to produce professional-quality recordings.
"First and foremost, this is about serving the kids," Schulz said about the studio last October. "We want to make sure we're giving students varied experiences behind that soundboard."
In Ohio, Schulz won two Telly Awards and two Emmy Awards for scoring documentaries.