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William Reeder, the founding dean of ������’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), died April 12, 2025, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80. 

Reeder joined George Mason in 2001 to lead the newly formed college after a distinguished career as an operatic tenor and arts administrator. Prior to joining George Mason, Reeder served as vice president and general manager of the Washington Performing Arts Society, executive director of the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., president of the Saint Louis Conservatory of Music, and executive director of Opera Music Theatre International. 

For eight years, Reeder was a leading operatic tenor in the Zurich Opera Company. As a professional singer, he performed more than 40 leading tenor roles in 15 major opera houses throughout Europe. 

Through his efforts, the college grew its operating budget from $9 million to $30 million and oversaw the development of $150 million in new facilities, fueled by both philanthropic and public investment. 

Reeder had a hand in physically transforming the arts landscape on the Fairfax Campus, securing for CVPA the planned Academic V facility, now known as the award-winning Art and Design Building, and coordinating philanthropic, state, and university support for the de Laski Performing Arts Building addition and renovation of what became the Music Theater Building.

Some say his crowning achievement was the successful realization of a long-held community vision for an arts center serving Manassas and Prince William County—the Hylton Performing Arts Center on the Science and Technology Campus.

“Bill's tenacious, loquacious, always-optimistic advocacy, expressed in countless breakfast meetings in diners, neighborhood gatherings, political forums, and rounds of golf with prospective supporters, led to the creation of the Hylton Performing Arts Center,” said CVPA Dean Rick Davis. “At times it seemed as if Bill was almost single-handedly willing the center into existence—but it was really his tireless behind-the-scenes coordination of university, civic, and volunteer energy that carried the day.”

Davis said Reeder was honored for his accomplishment at the Hylton Center’s fifth Anniversary Gala in 2015. 

“At this year's gala, we will take a moment—or three—to remember Bill's foundational contributions,” Davis said.  

Reeder also held the Heritage Chair of Cultural Criticism and was named a Virginia Eminent Scholar. 

After stepping down as dean in 2015, he continued to teach at George Mason as a faculty member in the Arts Management Program, one of three new academic programs (including Film and Video Studies and Computer Game Design Programs) launched under his leadership. These programs have helped shape CVPA into the comprehensive arts college that it is today. 

“Bill will be remembered for his energetic and passionate advocacy for artists of all kinds and at every stage of their journeys,” said Davis. “I will always be grateful for his friendship and mentorship over 25 years of personal and professional collaboration.” 

Details regarding memorial arrangements are forthcoming.