Professor Craig Cornish recently retired as Music Professor Emeritus at Middle Tennessee State University. His responsibilities included serving as conductor of the Symphonic Band, coordinator of athletic bands, and instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses.

Awards during his tenure include the MTSU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2010 "Favorite MTSU Professor" by the Daily News Journal. Nationally, accolades include recognition at the 2007 College Band Directors National Association Conference, highlighting the "Band of Blue" as a premier college marching band. In 2013, he was given the MTSU Athletic Director's Award, placing Cornish in the Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also named "Professor of the Month" by the Lambda Sigma National Honor Society, the 2016 recipient of the National Society of Leadership and Success Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 2017, he received the Orpheus Award from Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Holding a similar position at the University of Nebraska, the Cornhusker Marching Band was seen by millions at the 2001 Tournament of Roses Game and Parade. The University of Nebraska Symphonic Band performed for several state and regional conventions. Cornish was designated a four-time recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Students Award - an award he has also earned at MTSU more than twenty times.

Cornish began his career teaching high school band in Kentucky. Honors and awards include four Kentucky Music Educators State Marching Band Championships, three Contest of Champions Grand Championships, two invitations to perform at the Kentucky Music Educators Conference, the 1996 Sudler Trophy, and a 1988 invitation to perform at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Cornish is a member and Past President of the Middle Tennessee State Band and Orchestra Association, as well as a member of the National Band Association, Music Educators National Conference, Tennessee Music Educators Association, Phi Beta Mu, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Pi Kappa Lambda. Craig Cornish is an active clinician and adjudicator who has written over two hundred award-winning marching shows.