Isabelle Williams
Isabelle Williams, a dedicated professor emerita of music who helped to launch the Filene Music Program at Skidmore, died Monday, March 9, 2020. She was 87.
Isabelle joined Skidmore in 1972 and taught piano, musicology and music theory throughout her two-decade career at the College. As chair of the Department of Music from 1979 to 1985, Isabelle helped to launch programs that have enriched the Music Department and the broader College community. She retired in 1993.
"Isabelle's collaboration with Helen and George Ladd and the Filene/Ladd family in establishing the Filene Music Program has enabled some of the most talented music students in the country to attend Skidmore," said Charles M. Joseph, professor emeritus of music. "A beloved teacher who touched the lives of countless students, Isabelle never wavered in her efforts to help each student realize his or her own special talents."
Born July 15, 1932, in Tampa, Florida, Isabelle was a summa cum laude graduate of Barry University in Florida and received her master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Michigan. In retirement, Isabelle continued to lecture, perform and teach the piano.
She was predeceased by her sister, Anna Maria Williams, professor emerita of biological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.