| Timeline |
| 1908 |
Born in New York City on 11 December |
| 1930 |
Studies harmony and counterpoint with Walter Piston and orchestration with Edward Burlingame Hill
|
| 1932 |
Obtains M.A. |
| 1932 |
Studies at L'Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and privately with Boulanger. |
| 1939 |
Teaches at St. John's College |
| 1946 |
Teaches at Peabody Conservatory |
| 1948 |
Teaches at Columbia University |
| 1958 |
Teaches at Yale University |
| 1960 |
Receives Pulitzer prize for String Quartet No.2 as well as the New York Music Critics Award and the UNESCO First Prize (in 1961) |
| 1963 |
Appointed composer-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome |
| 1967 |
Teaches at Cornell University |
| 1973 |
Receives Pulitzer prize for String Quartet No.3 |
