Don Randel recently stepped down as President of the Andrew Mellon Foundation where he served for seven years. Prior to this position, he was President of the University of Chicago. As noted scholar of music, Dr. Randel has taught at Syracuse University and Cornell University, where he also held executive positions over a thirty-two year period.

He is the editor of the Harvard Dictionary of Music, Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music and the Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians and has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Musicological Society. He is a member of the boards of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Hall, Lyric Opera of Chicago and CNA Financial. He has also served on the boards of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Argonne National Laboratory and Rockefeller University.

Dr. Randel received his A.B., M.F.A and Ph.D. degrees in music from Princeton University.