Hans and Alice B. Tischler Endowment
Hans Tischler was born in Vienna on January 18, 1915, where he completed his PhD in musicology from the University of Vienna. His dissertation was titled Die Harmonik in den Werken Gustav Mahlers. He left Vienna and immigrated to the United States in 1938. He received his second PhD in musicology from Yale University in 1942 (the first to be granted in the country in the field). His second dissertation was titled The Motet in 13th Century France.
Tischler became a US citizen after serving in the US Army from 1943-45. Soon after, he was appointed head of the music department at West Virginia Wesleyan College. His career expanded as he joined the faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago where he taught theory and music history, founded the Chicago Chapter of the International Society of Contemporary Music, and in 1965, was appointed Professor of Musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he remained until his retirement in 1985.
He specialized in medieval French music, and wrote over 150 articles and 22 books. His writings were supported by grants from the American Philosophical Society, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, NEA, Chapelbrook Foundation, and American Council of Learned Societies.
Alice B. Tischler was born on August 7, 1935 in Seattle, Washington. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Roosevelt University in 1958 and 1960 respectively. In 1971, she earned her Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University. Alice Tischler worked as a church music director playing the organ, piano, and harpsichord for various churches and synagogues. She also served as a music literature instructor at the University of Chicago before moving to Bloomington. At IU, she served as a music cataloguer, Research Director of the Black Music Center, and an academic advisor.
Active in politics, she ran the Monroe County Democratic headquarters for many elections, served as treasurer of the Democratic Women's Club, and served as precinct committeewoman for Perry 3 for several years.
After 37 years in Bloomington, the couple moved in 2002 to Wheaton, Illinois to be closer to their immediate family.
The Jacobs School of Music is honored to award the Hans and Alice B. Tischler Endowment to students at the Jacobs School, with preference given to graduate Musicology students.