Bennett Reimer, author of a widely read book on music education and director of Northwestern University’s music education doctorate program, will speak and receive an honorary degree at DePaul University’s School of Music and Theatre School commencement ceremony on June 14.

The ceremony begins at 9 a.m. at DePaul’s Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Drive.

Reimer is the John W. Beattie Endowed Chair in Music at Northwestern and also directs the Center for the Study of Education and Musical Experience, a research group of doctoral students and faculty.

He began his musical career as a clarinetist, then an oboist, before he became a specialist in the philosophy of music education, curriculum development, theory of research and comprehensive arts education programs.

His book, "A Philosophy of Music Education," first published in 1970 and revised in 1989, has been translated into French, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, with a Greek translation now planned. Sir Frank Callaway, the founder of the International Society for Music Education, called it "the most respected and influential book in the field of music education in the second half of the 20th century."

Reimer also is the author and editor of a dozen books and has written more than 100 chapters and articles on a variety of topics in music and arts education. His textbooks on music for grades one to eight have been the most widely used throughout the United States and the world for two decades.

He has served on the editorial board of major journals, was national chairman of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) committee on aesthetic education, was MENC’s liaison for arts education initiatives, and represented MENC as a member of the Alliance for Curriculum Reform and the Aesthetic Education Program sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education.

As a research exchange scholar, Reimer studied music education practices from kindergarten through conservatory in China in 1986. For six years he was co-director and principal consultant for a teacher education project, Education for Aesthetic Awareness. He also served as a member of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Awards Committee for Exemplary School Arts Programs for five years.

Reimer has delivered music lectures around the globe, including presentations in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, Ireland and South America.

The combined School of Music and Theatre School event is one of five graduation ceremonies for students from DePaul’s eight schools and colleges that will be held during DePaul’s 99th commencement June 14 and 15.