Artist. Educator. Entrepreneur.
Dr. Eric J. Lapin is a Principal Lecturer of Music in the Department of Performing Arts and a former Artistic Director for the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts at Clemson University. He teaches courses in arts entrepreneurship, career development, applied clarinet, and music history.
He holds bachelors and masters degrees in Music Performance from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership with a cognate in political science and public policy from Clemson University. He also earned his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Clemson University and was named Entrepreneur of the Week by the Brook T. Smith Entrepreneurial Launchpad in 2024. In addition, Dr. Lapin has served as a grant reviewing panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, is a member of the South Carolina Humanities Speakers Bureau, and is a former member of the City of Clemson Public Arts and Culture Commission.
Dr. Lapin has presented papers and research at national and international conferences for the College Music Society, the National Humanities Conference, the Jazz Education Network, the Humanities Education and Research Association, and was named February 2017 Researcher of the Month by the Clemson University Library. He is published in several peer-reviewed journals, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed on arts entrepreneurship, teaching pedagogy, and arts curriculum development. His book, "The Artist Entrepreneur: Finding Success in a New Arts Economy," with Ronald C. McCurdy and Richard E. Goodstein was published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers in December 2019. He also served as Production Editor for go.follow.lead.: from my journey to yours by Dr. Janna Magette Butler in 2023.
As a clarinetist, Lapin has performed with the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the Spartanburg Philharmonic, the Limestone College Wind Ensemble, and has given solo performances for the Greenville Music Teachers Association, Clemson University ensembles, and the 2012 Clemson University Victor Hurst Academic Convocation.