Roy David Magnuson is a Professor of Music at Illinois State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music theory and composition and serves as Director of the Adaptive Edge Institute. In this role—and during his tenure as a Provost Fellow for the Division of Academic Affairs in the 2023–2024 academic year—Roy has focused on understanding and responding to emerging disruptive technologies such as AI, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Spatial Computing. His work emphasizes clarifying what these technologies are—and what they are not—while prioritizing technological literacy, ethics, student success, and creative scholarship. 

Roy is the creator of the virtual reality composition software solsticeVR and co-creator of the virtual reality conducting pedagogy RibbonsVR: Virtual Reality Assisted Conducting. His music has been performed throughout the United States and Europe at venues such as the World Saxophone Congress, NASA, WASBE, CBDNA, the RED NOTE New Music Festival, and the Robb Composers' Symposium. He is a member of ASCAP, and his music is recorded on Albany Records, NAXOS, and Tonsehen Record