Dr. Frederick C. Tillis passed away at the age of 90 on Sunday.
Tillis led the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts as director emeritus.
He was a musician, poet, composer and advocate for the arts, and started successful art initiatives at UMass Amherst such as Jazz in July and the Jazz and Afro-American Music Studies Program.
Read more about Tillis from the Gazette or watch his 2003 performance at Jazz in July in Amherst Media's Archives.