Indiana University’s Ruth Stone Honored for Lifetime of Achievement in Ethnomusicology

Ruth Stone, the Laura Bolton Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and associate vice provost for research at Indiana University Bloomington was honored for lifetime achievement by the Society of Ethnomusicology at the society’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Harris M. Berger, president of the society and a professor of music at Texas A&M University, stated, “Among the most significant ethnomusicologists of her generation, Stone is a scholar who has made essential contributions to a wide range of literatures.”

Professor Stone is a native of Nebraska but grew up in the African nation of Liberia where she became interested in West African music. She holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University.

Dr. Stone is the author of many books including Let the Inside Be Sweet: The Interpretation of Music Event Among the Kpelle of Liberia (Indiana University Press, 1982), Dried Millet Breaking: Time, Words, and Song in the Woi Epic of the Kpelle (Indiana University Press, 1988) and Music in West Africa: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (Oxford University Press, 2005).