Hines, James R. 1937–

(James Hines, James Robert Hines)

PERSONAL:

Born 1937. Education: Old Dominion University, B.A.; Virginia Commonwealth University, M.M.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D. Hobbies and other interests: Figure skating.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Christopher Newport University, 1 University Place, FCA 136, Newport News, VA 23606. E-mail—jhines@cnu.edu.

CAREER:

Writer, musicologist, broadcaster, reviewer, and educator. Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, professor of music, 1975—. Member of board of directors, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Peninsula Symphony, Peninsula Youth Orchestra, and Virginia Opera Association Guild. Member of City of Newport News Planning Commission. Presenter of Classics 101, a weekly music appreciation radio program.

MEMBER:

Rotary Club of Oyster Point (served as president for twenty years).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year Award, Christopher Newport University Alumni Society, 1980; Life Bravissimo Award, 1980, for outstanding contributions to the community; Outstanding Faculty Award, Christopher Newport University, 1987, 1993.

WRITINGS:

Figure Skating: A History, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Virginia Pilot, Norfolk, VA.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author and historian James R. Hines is a professor of musicology at Christopher Newport University. Hines holds the distinction of being the first full-time music professor at CNU, appointed in 1975, noted a biographer on the Christopher Newport University Music Department Web site. Among his accomplishments, he helped implement the college's Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 and the Bachelor of Music degree in 1983. ‘Under his leadership, the Cary McMurran Music Library was established in 1976, the Jean B. Falk Professorship in Music was created in 1985, and an Opera Workshop was founded in 1987,’ the biographer stated. Hines's interest in music extends beyond the walls of academia—he has been a church choir director, a concert reviewer, the director of an early music group, and a judge in numerous musical competitions. His musical research interests include ‘American and Caribbean music, particularly popular music of the nineteenth century and Guyanese folk music,’ the biographer stated.

An avid skater since the 1950s and a historian on the sport of figure skating, Hines is the author of Figure Skating: A History. Hines's ‘illustrated book is certainly one that all skaters will want to read,’ observed Bonnie Collier in a Library Journal review. Within the book, Hines ‘artfully explains various skating styles, including American, English, and Continental. He covers in depth the development of modern international figure skating competition, and discusses such topics as the controversies of international judging and the changes in styles, requirements, and techniques that skating has experienced over the years. Hines also provides individual profiles of individual skaters, including some more obscure names who have participated in the sport.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chronicle of Higher Education, February 24, 2006, Richard Byrne, ‘The New Rules in Olympic Figure Skating,’ interview with James R. Hines.

Library Journal, March 15, 2006, Bonnie Collier, review of Figure Skating: A History, p. 77.

ONLINE

Christopher Newport University Music Department Web site,http://music.cnu.edu/ (November 5, 2007), curriculum vitae of James R. Hines.

University of Illinois Press Web site,http://www.press.uillinois.edu/ (November 5, 2007), biography of James R. Hines.