Dr. Alis Dickinson Adkins, former faculty member of the University of North Texas College of Music, passed quietly into the life eternal on Friday, December 6, 2019, at the family home in Denton, TX, surrounded by many of her large and wonderful family.  Born in Corpus Christi, TX, on August 25, 1936, to electrical engineer William Cecil Dickinson (Texas A & M, 1926) and his wife Elizabeth Dickinson, she grew up in Brownwood, Texas, and graduated from high school there in 1953.   Both then and later at Howard Payne College in 1957, she led her graduating class as valedictorian, majoring in history and minoring in music.
While subsequently teaching at Howard Payne and serving as organist of the First Baptist Church in Brownwood, she pursued her two principal interests by completing a Master's Degree in music history and organ at the University of Texas in Austin.  She was fortunate to work there with two distinguished musicologists, Dr. Paul Pisk and Dr. Hans-Heinz Draeger, as well as with an inspiring concert organist, Jerald Hamilton.
Alis was equally fortunate to be awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for two years of study with the eminent organist-scholar Finn Viderø in Copenhagen, Denmark (1963-1965).  He arranged for her to play a number of well-reviewed recitals around Denmark and Sweden, concentrating on the North German organ music that became the center of her repertoire.
Upon her return to Texas in 1965 she enrolled at the University of North Texas to teach organ part-time while pursuing a doctorate in musicology.  The degree was presented upon completion of her dissertation, Keyboard Tablatures of the Mid-Seventeenth Century in the Royal Library, Copenhagen: Edition and Commentary, for which she was awarded a significant prize by the professional fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon. Alis also had the honor of being the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the arts from a Texas university.
In 1967 Dr. Dickinson had married a musicological colleague, Dr. Cecil Adkins, and they enjoyed collaborating on subjects of mutual interest–most significantly A Trumpet by Any Other Name: A History of the Trumpet Marine (1991), still the most authoritative source for information on this intriguing early instrument.  Later they published articles on various aspects of the positive organ. In 1967 they also took over the bibliographical series Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology, the go-to publication for information on current and completed dissertations in the field.  Dr. Dickinson also taught music history and appreciation for many years at the University of North Texas.  Her lively instruction and beautiful speaking voice are well-remembered by those who worked with her.

Along the way Drs. Cecil and Alis reared eight "fiercely unique children", who count among their numbers a scientist and engineer, a singer and voice-over artist, an accountant, a number of musicians, and the best pie-baker west of the Continental Divide.  A great joy of Alis's was that many of her children performed music together for a number of years, and will be reuniting to provide music on the occasion of their mother's memorial service.  Alis is survived by Sean Adkins (Rexanne Ring), Lynne Adkins Rutherford (Paris), Elisabeth Adkins (Edward Newman), Christopher Adkins (Sasha), Clare Adkins Cason (David), Anthony Adkins (Erica), Alexandra Adkins Wenig (Steven), and Madeline Adkins (John Forrest), as well as by 12 wonderful grandchildren, Gregory, Cecily, Rachel, Rebekah, Theresa, Christian, Carmen, Ariel, Taylor, Parker, Noah, and Gabriel.