Congratulations to Professor Danielle Fosler-Lussier, who received Honorary Membership in the American Musicological Society at its Awards Ceremony. This is the society’s highest honor — it is awarded to only a few members per year. The Honorary Membership recognizes those who make outstanding contributions to expanding the understanding of music and sound through research, teaching, learning and advocacy. Fosler-Lussier is the youngest person ever to receive this award.

It is a truly outstanding and fitting tribute for the American Musicological Society to bestow its highest accolade, Honorary Membership, upon Professor Fosler-Lussier. Her contributions are exemplary in every facet of her work, at the forefront of scholarship, inclusive teaching and pedagogy, and inspired and dedicated service. Professor Fosler-Lussier's influence extends broadly as she elevates both individuals and institutions in her immediate sphere to reach new heights of distinction.

— Michael Ibrahim, director of the School of Music

The Honorary Membership recognizes Professor Fosler-Lussier's outstanding scholarship, teaching, and her visionary leadership of the American Musicological Society. The innovative programs she developed support new models of community-engaged scholarship and expand the impact of musicology beyond academic institutions. Her collaborations and initiatives have guided the Society to articulate new strategic goals that meet the demands of the current moment. 

— Anna Gawboy, associate professor, area head of Musicology and Theory

The award citation praised Fosler-Lussier’s scholarly publications. These include three sole-authored books and one newly published co-edited collection, A Cultural History of Western Music in the Modern Age. Fosler-Lussier’s monograph Music in America’s Cold War Diplomacy has been influential in expanding interest in the study of music in international relations, now a flourishing subfield. The AMS’s Cold War and Music Study Group, of which Fosler-Lussier was a founding member, now numbers more than two hundred participants.

Fosler-Lussier’s contributions to the society include service as Vice President, 2020–2022. Her most significant projects included managing the society’s meetings and public events during the pandemic, crafting the society’s strategic plan, and developing new programs that extend the society’s reach to new members and partner organizations. After her vice presidency, she has continued to work with Executive Director Siovahn Walker to apply for grants to support these new outreach programs. To date this grantwriting effort has resulted in the awarding of more than $390,000 to the society in support of its programs. These funds enabled AMS to hire a new staff member, substantially increasing its organizational capacity. 

The published award citation in support of Professor Fosler-Lussier reads:

"For her contributions to musicology, her teaching career, and her exceptional service to the profession and to the Society. [Fosler-Lussier] is the author of Music on the Move, Music in America's Cold War Diplomacy, and Music Divided: Bartok's Legacy in Cold War Culture, as well as articles and essays similarly illuminating the persons and politics behind twentieth- and twenty-first-century music. Her teaching record is confirmed by the Society's bestowal of the AMS Teaching Award. In her career at The Ohio State University, she received the Lewellen Award for Distinguished Service and has worked to support the career development of all graduate students through the Imagined Futures Initiative. Within the AMS she has served on the AMS Council, Board of Directors, Committee on Membership and Professional Development, the H. Colin Slim Award Committee, and as Vice President and Chair of the Committee on the Annual Meeting and Public Events — a committee she has expanded to address the Society’s growing public-facing role. This Honorary Membership recognizes the ways in which these activities have made the AMS a more welcoming, inclusive and dynamic organization."