Leadership for American higher education is increasingly receiving more attention due to the rapidly changing academic world of the twenty-first century. Academic leadership development, thus, warrants serious study and lively discourse. The emergence of music as a fully organized discipline in the twentieth century, and the development of a comprehensive music education model for higher education, prompted collegiate schools of music to seek an effective, bold style of leadership in music administration for the profession to thrive. Pivotal lessons from the past can help illuminate present and future music leadership to think anew. This dissertation presents a historical case study of the leadership of Wilfred C. Bain, Dean of the Indiana University School of Music from 1947 to 1973 and the rise of the Indiana University School of Music under his administration. The data for this study emerged principally from extensive oral history interviews conducted "in situ" with current and former music faculty and administration at the Jacobs School of Music, most of whom worked under Dean Bain. This study also drew from archival documents at Indiana University, faculty and presidential biographies, and Wilfred Bain's written accounts and extensive oral history interviews conducted after his retirement for the Indiana University Center for the Study of History the and Memory. Qualitative research for this study was grounded on a review of leadership literature with a focus on the dean in American higher education, and Max Weber's seminal theories on the sociology of music and charismatic leadership. The emphasis on these theories was based on participants' perceptions and a broad examination of Bain's own approach to leadership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]