Claudia Bornholdt Named the Music Educator of the Year

Claudia Bornholdt, dean of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, was honored by the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also named 2023 Music Educator of the Year for her support of women in music and the arts.

Established in 2021 to honor the legacy of women in the music industry, the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates women songwriters as well as performers, educators, and scholars. It also serves as a resource for developing new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases, and scholarship.

“Having received this recognition for my support of the arts is a great honor,” said Dr. Bornholdt. “Songwriters bring together the humanities and the arts in a special way because songwriting is about telling a story. It is such a privilege to be able to support our talented students and all songwriters in finding their voices. I accepted the award on behalf of our dedicated faculty, who help our students develop their skills and foster their creativity. I am looking forward to hearing more of our students’ great work in the future.”

Dr. Bornholdy has served as dean at Coastal Carolina University since 2019. Earlier, she was acting dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, chair of the department of modern languages, and held the Endowed Walburg Chair of German Language and Literature at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Bornholdt’s research focuses on medieval German and Scandinavian as well as French and Latin literature. She is particularly interested in the early days of vernacular writing and the transfer of literary texts, motifs, patterns, and genres across languages and cultural boundaries.

Born just north of Hamburg, Germany, Dr. Bornholdt completed her undergraduate studies at Christian-Albrechts Universität in Kiel, Germany. She holds a Ph.D. in Germanic languages and literatures, medieval studies, and historical linguistics from Indiana University-Bloomington