Jayme Klinger Host

Dean, School of the Arts

Jayme Klinger Host has more than 25 years of student success and higher education experience. Her comprehensive knowledge of higher education has been developed through work at three different public and private institutions of higher education. Host has extensive experience directing complex departments and projects, and intentionally bringing people together across divides and generating a positive vision that is long term, expansive and solution driven. In her previous role as the director of East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance, within the College of Fine Arts and Communication, Host led the school’s strategic plan while serving as its senior academic officer, and was responsible for curriculum, human resources and fiscal operations. Previously, she was the producer and artistic director of East Carolina University’s Loessin Playhouse, a major arts hub for the eastern North Carolina region. She also served as professor and head of the dance program at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania and was founder and artistic director of the Lewisburg Dance Conservatory in Pennsylvania. From 1996-2002 she was faculty in the dance departments of Goucher College and Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Maryland. Her extensive administrative, artistic and academic career is steeped in a tenacious advocacy for student success and support. She is intentional in cultivating artistry, inclusive practices and global citizenship.

Originally from Central Pennsylvania, she is a professor, dancer, choreographer, STEAM educator and Arts Integration specialist with 28 years of experience of teaching dance in higher education. As a dancer, she performed with Tandy Beal Dance Company in Tokyo, with the Pennsylvania Dance Theatre in State College, PA and as an independent artist. She has created over 50 original works throughout her career, including commissioned pieces across the USA at universities and with professional companies, such as Ririe-Woodbury Dance in Salt Lake City, Utah and Momentum Dance company in Panama. She taught in residence at the Riverside International School in Prague, Czech Republic, Artists for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya and at the Young Theatre Festival in Bale, Croatia. As a STEAM educator and arts integration specialist, she co-coordinates "Eco-Librium", which is an annual professional development conference in Tradate, Italy as a member of T.E.A.C.H. (Transcontinental Educators and Artists for the Collective Humanity) that brings together scientists, artists, educators and activists to increase enviro-literacy and climate action.  

Education

1995: M.F.A. with Honors in Modern Dance University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

1993: B.A. with Distinction and Honors Dance: Performance, Choreography, Dance History, and Criticism Goucher College, Towson, Maryland

1989: Ballet, Modern Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

Career Highlights

2017 – 2024: Director, School of Theatre & Dance College of Fine Arts and Communication East Carolina University

2017 – 2024: Producer and Artistic Director ECU/Loessin Playhouse

2021-2022: Producer and Artistic Director ECU/Loessin Playhouse Summer Theatre

2003 – 2017: Professor and Head of Dance Program Department of Visual & Performing Arts Lock Haven University

2007 – 2017: Founder & Artistic Director/Owner Lewisburg Dance Conservatory

1996-2002: Dance Faculty at Goucher College, Towson, Maryland

1996-2002: Dance Faculty , Carver Center for Arts and Technologies, Towson, Maryland

Honors and Achievements

2023: East Carolina University CREED AWARD for Leadership

2022: East Carolina University Campus Internationalization Student Mobility Award

2021: East Carolina University Chancellor’s Horizon Award (Diversity and Inclusion Award)

2018: East Carolina University, Treasured Pirate Award 

2016: Faculty Development Travel Grant, International Visiting Guest Artist Residency, Riverside International School, Prague, Czech Republic

2015: Faculty Development Travel Grant American College Dance Festival

2015: Teaching Artist Grant Global Arts Integration Network, Maryland

2014: Faculty Development Travel Grant, American College Dance Festival