Wilbur Pursley

NIU School of Music scholarship endowed
in memory of late faculty member

Carmen Pursley has made a generous donation to create an endowed scholarship in the name of Wilbur Pursley, her late husband and former NIU School of Music faculty member.

Additional contributions to the Wilbur Pursley Endowed Scholarship in Music are invited. Should anyone wish to make a contribution, checks should be made out to “NIU Foundation” with the memo reading “Pursley Endowed Scholarship.”

The purpose of the fund is to provide scholarship support for junior or senior undergraduate trombone or composition students majoring in music at NIU. This fund shall be known as THE WILBUR PURSLEY ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP IN MUSIC.

Wilbur Pursley was born in Farmland, Ind., where his love for music was nurtured along with an intense interest in sports, airplanes and flying. He received a bachelor of arts degree at Ball State University and a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music. In 1962, he was awarded the Ph.D. in music theory from the Eastman School. While a student at Eastman, Pursley studied composition with noted composers Alan Hovahness, Bernard Rogers and Wayne Barlow.

His long musical career began in 1949 at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., where he was instrumental in organizing the marching band. There he also taught music theory and conducted the orchestra. This was followed by a 14-year tenure at Marshall University in Huntington, W.V. In 1964, he joined the music faculty at NIU, where he remained a dedicated faculty member until his retirement in 1991.

Pursley was noted for the broad spectrum of his musical interests and talents which included classical and jazz music.

He was a talented pianist and trombonist and served as principal trombonist in the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, the Rockford Pops Orchestra and the DeKalb Park Band for 25 years in addition to performing with the NIU Alumni-Faculty Dixieland Band and the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

His love of jazz was evidenced in his teaching a popular course in jazz history and his performances with the “Smugtown Stompers,” the Will Pursley Jazztet and the Will Pursley Trio. He held professional memberships in the International Trombone Association, the Rockford Musical Association and the Rockford Jazz Society.

In May of 2000, Pursley was honored posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rockford Area Music Industry Association “for lifelong dedication to music education, promotion, and performance nationally and in the Rockford area.”

7-21-03