Ryan Hourigan (2010 Indiana Music Educators Association Outstanding University Music Educator of the Year, 2021 University of Michigan Kendall Award winner) joined the faculty at Ball State University in the fall of 2006 after nine years of teaching music at the secondary and university level. Dr. Hourigan holds degrees from Eastern Illinois University (B.M.-Outstanding Alumni Award 2023), Michigan State University (M.M. Wind Conducting), and a Ph.D. in Music Education from The University of Michigan. Dr. Hourigan currently is a professor of music education and is the former Director of the School of Music at Ball State University. He also has recently joined Focus 5 as a teaching artist specializing in arts integration for students with learning differences. 

Currently in its third edition, Hourigan is the co-author (Alice Hammel) of Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Label-Free Approach. This is a comprehensive text written by practicing music educators, music teacher educators, and researchers in the field of teaching music to children with exceptionalities. Hourigan and Hammel’s second book Teaching Music to Students with Autism (2nd edition) was released in 2020. They released a new text entitled Universal Design for Learning in Music Education in 2024.

In 2009, Hourigan co-founded the Prism Project (prismprojectbsu.org). This program provides an opportunity for Ball State students to gain skills in teaching students with special needs. This program has been duplicated in several communities and universities across the country including New Orleans (9thWard), Louisiana State University, The University of Northern Iowa, and the Hartt School of Music, and two locations in Indiana.