Doctor of Fine Arts

To found a theatre and to make it a vehicle primarily for regional plays as well as an inspiration for future play- wrights was a dream Edward C. Mabie '15 took with him when he went to teach in the State University of lowa's speech department in 1920. At that time only one course on drama was offered in the curriculum and the idea of a theatre not even thought about. Today the University Theatre, completed in 1936 and made possible through Professor Mabie's efforts to interest the Rockefeller Foundation in the project, exerts an acknowledged in- fluence on the two worlds of the theatre and education.

In the words spoken in honor of Professor Mabie at the time of the theatre's dedication: "This theatre is designed for the interpretation of the life of the people we know, of whom we are a part.

... Its accent is to be on creative work, the advancement of imaginative plays dealing with the region it is to serve." That the aims of the theatre have been realized is shown by the work of its many noted students, among them Lemuel Ayers who designed the sets for Oklahoma and Tennessee Williams, author of A Streetcar Named Desire. More than 300 Master of Arts degrees in drama have been granted since Professor Mabie became head of the department of speech in 1925, and 22 doctorates.

Professor Mabie is a former president of the National Association of Teachers of Speech and of the American Educational Theatre Association. Last June he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts by Illinois Wesleyan College.