Biography

Adam Kruse is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he teaches music education courses primarily in areas of popular music and music technology. He is co-director and co-leader of the Illinois Hip Hop Camp, Street College: Studio Saturdays, and the Hip Hop Innovation Center. Kruse completed his Ph.D. in music education at Michigan State University and earned a Master of Arts degree in secondary education and a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Ball State University. As a graduate student, Kruse earned an Excellence in Diversity Award, a Research Enhancement Award, and a Dissertation Completion Fellowship. His dissertation titled, “‘They Wasn’t Makin’ My Kinda Music’: Hip-Hop, Schooling, and Music Education,” won the 2014 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Council for Research in Music Education. Kruse’s current scholarship focuses on Hip-Hop music learning and engagements of Hip-Hop culture in school music settings. He presents frequently at national and international conferences and has published in many of the field’s leading journals.

At the University of Illinois, Kruse earned a Campus Distinguished Promotion Award in 2021 and the 2019-2020 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching from the College of Fine + Applied Arts. He also received a Creative Research Award from the College and an M³I⁴ grant from the School of Music to host the first-ever Hip Hop Music Ed Symposium. Kruse was also recognized with the 2020 Outstanding Early Career Paper in Music Education from the American Educational Research Association and a 2017-2018 Technology Initiative Award from the College Music Society. The Hip Hop Xpress project that Kruse participated in with Dr. William Patterson and others has been awarded grants from the University’s Presidential Initiative to Celebrate the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities; the Student Sustainability Committee; and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’s Call to Action to Address Racism and Social Injustice. This project also earned the 2021 Campus Excellence in Public Engagement award.