Warrick L. Carter is the President of Columbia College Chicago, the nation’s largest arts and communications college. He joined Columbia in 2000, following a four-year term as Director of Entertainment Arts for Walt Disney Entertainment. At Disney, he was responsible for developing global education and live arts programs for the entire corporation.
Prior to his engagement with Disney, Dr. Carter spent twelve years at Berklee College of Music in Boston, serving as dean of faculty and then as provost/vice president of academic affairs. At Governors State University, where he served from 1971 to 1984, he began as a professor of music and was promoted to chairman of the division of fine and performing arts. He began his career in higher education as an assistant professor and director of bands at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, teaching at that institution while pursuing his doctoral studies. He received his Ph.D. in music education from Michigan State University.
Warrick L. Carter is an educator, composer and performer. In addition to his academic appointments at Berklee, Governors State and Maryland, he taught in East Lansing, Michigan and Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has consulted on music education and minority issues in music education for organizations worldwide. His projects have included work with the Wisconsin Music Educators, the Michigan Council for the Arts, the Philadelphia Public Schools, the Los Angeles Board of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Minister of Culture, Paris, France.
He is a former past president of the International Association of Jazz Educators, two- time recipient of the National Black Music Caucus Achievement Award, is a member of the International Jazz Educators Hall of Fame, and is listed in Who’s Who in Black America. In 1997 Berklee College of Music established a lecture series in his name and in 1996 Walt Disney Entertainment Endowed a “Warrick L. Carter Scholarship” in the International Association of Jazz Educators.
Dr. Carter currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the International House of Blues Foundation, the Interlochen Advisory Board, the Jikei Group of Japan, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and various local boards and commissions in Chicago. He was the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Panel for three years and the executive director of the National Black Music Caucus for ten. In previous years he has served on the boards of many professional organizations including the National Association of Jazz Educators, the Massachusetts Arts and Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Foundation for the Advancement of Music.
