Professor Jenkins received a B.M., M.M., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. At UMass Amherst he Chaired the University Task Force on General Education and the General Education Council. A former Professor in Residence at Hokkaido University, Japan, Jenkins' publications appeared in the Journal of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning at the Center for Research and Development in Higher Education, Sapporo, Japan. Founder of The Lively Arts course and artist residency program at UMass Amherst, he is the recipient of the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Study Visit Grant to Hofkapelle, Thurn und Taxis and Regensburg.