Germany’s Deputy Consul General Thomas Wülfing of Atlanta presented his country’s German-American Friendship Award to Piedmont President James F. Mellichamp during a luncheon ceremony at the college Friday.
Established by the German government in 1981, the Friendship Award is given each year by the German Ambassador to the United States to recognize Americans who have helped foster positive German-American relations.
In making the presentation, Wülfing noted that Mellichamp’s connections to Germany go back more than 40 years, beginning with a travel study trip while in college. In 1975, Mellichamp was awarded an international scholarship to the Hochschule fuer Musik in Herford, Westphalia, where he earned a diploma in church music and studied with Arno Schoenstedt, the organist at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Mellichamp also served as director of music at the Lutheran Parish in Steinhagen during this time.
In 1982, Mellichamp earned a Doctor of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and also completed a minor in German literature. He joined the faculty at Piedmont College in 1982 as a music professor and taught German language courses for 10 years. During his time at Piedmont, he served as Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Provost, before being named President of the college in 2012.
Mellichamp was a design consultant for German pipe organ manufacturers E.F. Walcker & Company and Wilhelm Sauer Organ Builders. In 1994, he received a grant to document the history and restoration of the 1904 Sauer pipe organ in the Berlin Cathedral. He has performed numerous organ concerts in Germany, including the C.P.E. Bach Concert Hall in Frankfurt an der Oder and the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Weimar.
As president at Piedmont, Mellichamp was a founding board member of the German-American Exchange, a partnership between governments, the American Chamber of Commerce, and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to promote internships in the U.S. for German students; and the college hosted a German-American “Atlantik Bruecke” conference for young German business leaders. Piedmont also maintains a student exchange program with the University of Paderborn.
“Over many decades, Dr. Mellichamp has placed many important building blocks into that bridge between the United States and Germany,” Wülfing said.
