The Meadows Museum was abuzz Tuesday afternoon as faculty, students and administrators gathered in honor of Jose Antonio Bowen, the new dean for Meadows School of the Arts.

Southern Methodist University President R. Gerald Turner and wife Gail joined Bowen and his, wife, Nancy to shake hands with guests streaming in- to the reception.

After a half-hour of greeting guests, Turner took to the podium.

“They [Bowen and his family] got here in July, but we wanted to have the opportunity once class started to introduce them to the university community,” he said.

After welcoming Bowen and his wife, Turner presented them with gifts: SMU sweatshirts for both and a tie for Bowen.

“We’re so pleased to have him with us; he has so much energy,” said Turner.

“It’s like firing a Tomahawk missile through Meadows,” he said.

Bowen returned the warm welcome during his very brief speech.

“The energy I’m getting back from people is just marvelous,” he said. “I look forward to making music and art… and stirring the pot with all of you.”

Bowen has several big changes in mind.

At SMU, he said, “All the elements are here to take it to the next level. The students are smart, the faculty is strong, the city is dynamic. It’s a great combination.”

Bowen said he was drawn here because “SMU takes the arts seriously.”

But that doesn’t mean he won’t change anything.

Bowen listed off a few of his top objectives, the first of which involves going beyond SMU’s campus.

“I really want to increase global travel,” he said. This would include adding places in Africa, Asia and Latin America to the existing study-abroad programs and making more summer options available.

Technology is another facet of Meadows that Bowen would like to see changed.

“I podcast, I e-mail, I teach using technology,” he said. “I’d like all our division to have laptop and iPod requirements — hopefully by next fall.’

And undergraduate research, according to Bowen, is crucial.

“The most powerful experiences happen outside class, in an academic environment – not when you’re at a frat party, but when you’re doing your own production of Hamlet.”

The new dean said he’d like to give students more opportunities to travel abroad with faculty, and that’s why he plans on putting $100,000 from the Meadows Foundation Grant into research education funding.

Chair of the Art History Department Randall Griffin voiced his support for the new dean and his dynamism.

“Not only is he terrifically energetic and open to new ideas, but his experiences are wide-ranging, [which is] ideal for this position,” he said. “It gives him an acute sense of the various needs of the divisions within meadows.”

The rest of the audience in the packed reception room comprised both Meadows and non-Meadows students.

Astrud Villareal, a first-year biology major from Dallas, showed up early for the event.

“I’m just here to meet the dean,” she said. “He was really amazing at convocation,” where he gave the keynote speech.

Fellow first-year Austen Green of Arlington, a piano performance major, shared her enthusiasm — if for different reasons.

“He’s a great jazz pianist, and I love jazz,” he said.

Rennie Chun, a coordinator for University Events, said the department had been planning the reception for several months.

“We had 250 people RSVP,” but they’d planned on more showing up she said.