MoWest professor named 2026 Jazz Educator of the Year  

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)-- Bob Long, director of Jazz Studies and professor of saxophone at Missouri Western State University, has been named the 2026 Jazz Educator of the Year at the Missouri Music Conference.  

When asked how he felt about receiving the honor, Long said he was humbled, especially because of the award’s long-standing legacy.  

“When you look at the list of people who have been given this award in the past 45 years, there’s a lot of my mentors and a lot of my old teachers that are on hat list so to be listed with them is quite an honor,” Long said.  

This year marks Long’s 22nd year at Mowest, where he serves as the director of Jazz Studies and teaches saxophone.  

Before coming to St. Joseph, Missouri, Long spent about 16 years in Iowa, teaching at Valley High School, which had an extensive jazz program. 

He said his love for music began back in junior high, where a music director first introduced and guided him into jazz.  

“I guess you can say the music spoke to me and listening to the jazz and all its great classic and recording and everything that just stuck with me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Long said.  

According to Long, several factors fueled his passion for music over the years.  

“It was the energy of the music, the rhymical drive of the music, the excitement and then also the freedom to say what you want to say and as I grew older and studied music, the historic part of the music,” Long added.  

Long added that teaching at the collegiate level had always been a goal of his.  

He got his start at Truman State University, teaching privately for several years before a friend encouraged him to try teaching at the high school level.  

“This job came along and I wanted to take it because I wanted to share the knowledge I had gained in teaching public schools with new music educators coming out,” Long said.  

His favorite part of teaching, he said, is watching students learn new things and seeing how they grow from their failures. 

Long also emphasized the importance of pursuing education if it’s something students truly love.