Heather J. Coltman, D.M.A.

James Madison University
ACAO Treasurer

Heather J. Coltman, D.M.A.Heather Coltman is the Provost and Senior Vice President at James Madison University. In this position, she leads the Division of Academic Affairs and is the institution's Chief Academic Officer, directing the development and delivery of all academic programs at JMU while overseeing the division’s budget and personnel. The Division of Academic Affairs comprises JMU’s seven colleges that deliver more than 135 degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. Related entities, including the Honors College, Research and Scholarship, the Center for Global Engagement, the Center for Civic Engagement, Professional and Continuing Education, and JMU Libraries also come under the division’s umbrella. Since arriving at JMU in 2017, Dr. Coltman has worked to increase collaboration and diversity on campus by establishing an Associate Provost for Diversity and working with faculty to promote scholarship, outreach and inclusive education for all students. Dr. Coltman also holds an academic appointment as a professor in the School of Music.

A solo and collaborative concert pianist, she has performed, recorded, taught and lectured across five continents. Coltman made her performance debut in her native country of Zambia at the age of five, and she immigrated to the United States in 1966. She was a top prize-winner in numerous international piano competitions in the United States and Europe.

Dr. Coltman holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas, a Master of Music from the Mannes College of Music in New York and Bachelor of Music from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Her principal teachers included Lita Guerra, David Bar-Illan, Claude Frank and Nadia Boulanger, and she has critically acclaimed recordings on Wisdom Recordings, Klavier Records, Innova Recordings, Heng Hao Records and Lyra Productions.

From 2011-17, she served as Dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University. From 2013-16, she led the effort to develop a robust university initiative in “Peace, Justice and Human Rights.” After joining the faculty of FAU in 1993, she served as chair of the Department of Music as well as the Director of Keyboard Studies and the Artistic Director of the College Chamber Music Series. Dr. Coltman was also the founder of the TOPS piano camp, which has 3,000 alumni in its over 25 years of operation.

The mother of three sons, she is a lover of books, film, history, politics, travel, animals and the outdoors.