Milton Babbitt was an American composer, theorist and teacher whose work joined rigorous musical structures with an interest in new sound technologies. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, he became a central figure in twentieth-century American composition and electronic music. He taught at Princeton from 1938 until 1984, holding the William Shubael Conant Professorship, and influenced generations of composers across a wide range of musical fields. His catalog includes orchestral, chamber, piano and vocal works as well as electronic compositions. Babbitt received a special Pulitzer Prize citation in 1982 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1986. He died in January 2011.