Dr. Michael Golemo

Published on April 8th, 2020

Today we highlight a Brother from the North Central District who has a historical role in our district but who has also left the district to do outstanding work outside the NCD.  Dr. Michael Golemo has the distinction of serving as the last District 7 Governor and our first NCD Governor (1985-1989).  At the time Dr. Golemo was serving a director at the University of Akron. Over the years that have spanned since then he has been a constant figure in Kappa Kappa Psi and the college band field.  

During the 1989-1991 biennium, Dr. Golemo left the role of Governor when he was appointed National Second Vice President (now National Vice President for Professional Relations) by National President Ken Corbett.  Following that term in office he came back to serve as District Governor while working on his DMA at Michigan State University (1993-1995) only to once again serve on the National Council when National President Tim Greenwell appointed him to the office of National Vice President for Professional Relations, which then in turn lead to myself being appointed NCD Governor.  

Following that Dr. Golemo continued to serve in the National Leadership as VPCM (1997-1999), National President (1999-2001), and Immediate Past National President (2001-2003). He served on the Board of Trustees until 2011, serving as Board Vice President (2003-2005) and Board Chair  (2005-2007).  In 2011 he retired from the National Leadership 26 years after his first appointment as District VII Governor.  

Dr. Golemo is a native of the NCD having been raised in Chicago and received his BME and MM from Northwestern University.  Following that he served as the Director of Bands at Albion College (pre Kappa Chi) and also served as the Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Akron, it was that point he became involved in Kappa Kappa Psi, being awarded honorary membership into the Zeta Omicron Chapter in 1984. In 1999 Dr. Golemo left the NCD to serve as the Director of Bands at Iowa State University where he continued his involvement as the Sponsor of the Iota Omega Chapter, a position he holds to this day. 

Dr. Golemo’s professional accolades have been many and far too many to mention in total.  He is a prolific arranger of instrumental music and has worked with many top line performers.  His ensembles have performed at prestigious locations and conferences.  He holds memberships in several organizations including, The College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honorary, Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honorary, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Beta Mu Bandmasters, as well as honorary memberships in the Cardinal Key Honor Society at ISU as well as Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.  

Fraternally he holds honorary membership in both the National Chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, as well as the Midwest District of KKPsi and TBS. In 2009 Dr. Golemo received both the Johnnie Vinson award from Tau Beta Sigma and the Kappa Kappa Psi Outstanding Sponsor Award. He also was awarded the Distinguished Service to Music Medal by Kappa Kappa Psi in 2017.    

When asked about his memories about the NCD Dr. Golemo shared “I remember much about the district that I’m not sure has changed much. We ALWAYS have very strong student leaders. There was much accomplished to support local university/college band programs and district conventions were always fun. The one STILL stands out was at Michigan State, the ‘Take a Stand’ convention (1996). At the banquet, the chapter brought out a rack of stands. The rack had a music stand that was stolen during the past year from every school in the district.  Now that was funny!” (Author’s note: actually the taking of stands started a few years earlier while I was a district officer and Brothers would travel with me to events).

“One of the benefits of the district was to help develop student leaders. Students that ran campaigns for office, those that were elected, and those that dedicated many hours of service to the district always received an extra dose of student leadership experience and education. I’ve always thought that Kappa Kappa Psi was a win-win organization both for university bands AND for creating student leaders. Again the North Central District had strong student leaders and many have gone on to truly serve in a meaningful and lasting way.”

As one of our earliest leaders, Dr. Michael Golemo has represented his NCD roots well and continues to do outstanding work for both college and university bands as well as Kappa Kappa Psi.