Dan C. Armstrong, director of percussion studies at Penn State since 1982, teaches percussion and directs the Penn State Percussion and Mallet ensembles. He previously served on the faculties of the University of North Texas and the University of Oklahoma.

Professor Armstrong's orchestral career includes performances with the Dallas, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City symphony orchestras, as well as with the Aspen, Breckenridge, and Grand Teton music festivals and the Santa Fe Opera orchestra. He currently performs with professional orchestras in central Pennsylvania and in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida. In the summers he performs with the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder.

A versatile performer, Armstrong has made recordings with the Armstrong Flute and Percussion Duo, the Grammy-winning Chestnut Brass Company, and the North Texas 1:00 Lab Band. He has made appearances across the country, including Alaska, with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and performed at numerous jazz festivals as drummer for The Tarnished Six Traditional Dixieland Jazz Band. As solo xylophonist, he has performed in England and Scotland, as well as across the United States.

An active member of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), Professor Armstrong has served as a judge for national PAS competitions and as president of the Pennsylvania chapter. Well-known in the field of mallet ensemble, Professor Armstrong's arrangements have been performed and recorded by the PASIC '90 Marimba Orchestra, the 164-member Marimba Festival Orchestra at West Point, and numerous college and high-school percussion groups.

Armstrong is a clinician for Sabian Ltd. cymbal company and Innovative Percussion Inc. He holds degrees from The University of Michigan and the University of North Texas.