As executive director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Michael Cogswell ('89 M.M.) oversaw everything from its multimillion dollar renovation to picking up the trash.

After 27 years, Cogswell retired from the position that was a perfect fit for him. At UNT, he was able to substitute jazz studies courses in the graduate musicology degree plan to create a unique "jazz history" degree. He also wrote the book Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo.

He began establishing the Louis Armstrong archives in 1991, and in 2017 saw the construction of the visitors center, which sits across from Armstrong's home in a working class neighborhood in Queens.

"It has been tremendously fulfilling, personally and professionally, to participate in the growth, over 27 years, from 'good idea' to international cultural destination," says Cogswell, who was named an Honored Alumnus by the College of Music in 2012.