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Associate Professor of Music Michael E. Woods presented Richard R. Hyman for an honorary degree, Doctor of Music:

"Pianist, organist, composer, arranger, conductor, and impresario, you are without doubt a musician of many facets.  Called 'the ultimate musical chameleon,' you are fabled for your keyboard virtuosity and masterful improvisation.  But you are also known for your intimate acquaintance with the traditions and sacred texts of jazz, which enrich and inform your artistry.  Today, that artistry continues to flourish and enchant in an ongoing career of more than 50 years. 

A New Yorker by birth and proud to label yourself a New York musician, you obtained your first gig shortly after leaving Columbia University with a B.A. in classical piano in 1948.  You have been musically engaged and employed ever since.  During that time you have left your impact not only on concert, club and festival audiences nationwide and abroad, but also on television and movie viewers as an Emmy Award-winning musical director and a film scorer. In addition, there are your innumerable recordings ranging from faithful renditions of ragtime and jazz classics to pioneering experiments with electronics, and the acclaimed Jazz in July concerts at New York's 92nd St. Y, which you have guided for many years. 

Recognized as the preeminent historical scholar among jazz musicians, you have labored to preserve the legacy from the past and keep it alive through performance.  As to your musicianship, the noted jazz critic Leonard Feather has called it astonishingly versatile and brilliant. But let us give the last word to a fellow musician, the late, great Milt Hinton, who said you have kindness and talent and genius, and that, in short, you are quite a dude.

Richard R. Hyman, acting on the authority of the Board of Trustees, I am very pleased to confer on you the degree of Doctor of Music of Hamilton College, admitting you to all its rights and privileges.  In token whereof, we present you with this diploma and invest you with this hood."

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