Ian Bent came to Columbia in 1986, having taught previously at the U. of London King's College, Harvard U., and the U. of Nottingham, where he was Professor and Chair of Music. He is general editor of the series Cambridge Studies in Music Theory and Analysis, and an area editor for The New Grove Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition. He retired in 2003. His current research interests lie in the field of the history of music theory, especially in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries; but he has interests also in contemporary music, in the Middle Ages, and in Hildegard of Bingen.