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Lee University honored its newest alumni of the year at this weekend’s Homecoming festivities. This year’s distinguished alum was Mrs. Darlia McLuhan Conn.

Conn is currently an adjunct member of the piano faculty at Lee, where she earned a BA in Piano Performance in 1977. She also holds the MM degree in Accompanying and Coaching from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Conn was born in Canada and spent ten years of her childhood in Africa where her parents were missionaries. Her earliest music studies were in South Africa and Zimbabwe, culminating in a Licentiate degree from the Trinity College of London.

While raising a family, Conn remained active as an accompanist and piano teacher. She has also been a member of the Cleveland Symphony Guild since 1985 and is a former president of that organization.

In more recent years, Conn has accompanied baritone Tony Deaton in recitals at Lee University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Appalachian State University, and Chattanooga State University. While her primary work at Lee is accompanying faculty and students, she is also involved in donor cultivation for the university.

She and her husband Paul, Lee University president, take great pleasure in their family of three married children, their spouses, and nine grandchildren.

Photo:  Dr. Jerome Hammond, right, presents Darlia Conn with Distinguished Alum of the Year award (photo by Mike Wesson)