Matt Means was appointed inaugural and founding Dean of the newly created University of Nevada, Reno Honors College on July 1, 2020. He was previously director of the honors program at the University of Nevada, Reno, after first serving as the inaugural and founding director of the Fort Hays State University Honors College.  During his tenure at the University of Nevada, Reno the population of the Honors College has more than doubled, applications have tripled, and program completion rates have increased by approximately 30%.

As a musician, Means has maintained an active international performing schedule as a professional violinist in solo, orchestral and chamber roles. He gave his European recital debut at the Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, Italy (the birthplace of that great violinist). In Asia, he performed as a member of the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), founded by the composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein. He has appeared in concert in orchestras across the United States and abroad under the batons of conductors such as Marin Alsop, Andrew Litton, Christian Macelaru, Charles Dutoit, and Gerard Schwarz.  He has performed the violin concertos of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven (Violin Concerto and Triple Concerto), Glazunov, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, and Barber, and others, in the solo role. As a chamber musician, he has performed with Sarah Chang, Angel Romero, and members of many of the leading orchestras in the United States.