THEATRE TCU HISTORY

FORMER FACULTY

GAYLAN COLLIER

Gaylan Jane Collier was born in Fluvanna, Texas, located about 90 miles northwest of Abilene, in 1924. She earned a BA from Abilene Christian College (now University) in 1946, an MA from the University of Iowa in 1947, and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver in 1957. Her early teaching years included one year on the theatre faculty at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (1949-50), a ten year stint at her undergraduate alma mater, Abilene Christian College (from 1950 to 1960), three years at Idaho State University (1960-1963), and four years at Sam Houston State College (now University) in Huntsville (1963-67). Dr. Collier joined the TCU theatre department in 1967 and remained on the faculty until her retirement 24 years later in 1991. more...

HENRY HAMMACK

Henry “Hank” E. Hammack was born in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1928. He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington as a piano student, then served in the United States Marine Corps from 1950-1953 as Morse code radio operator. He returned to the University of Washington School of Drama where he earned a BA in 1956, and an MA in 1962. Later, he was to earn his Ph.D. in theatre from Tulane University in 1967. He joined the theatre faculty at TCU in 1957, and taught at TCU for 37 years until his retirement in 1994. more...

FORREST A. NEWLIN

Forrest Newlin was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1938. From Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University), he earned a BA in Theatre/Art, a BSE (secondary teaching degree) in Speech/History, and an MS degree in Speech/Theatre. During his undergraduate career, he served as student body president. Later he earned a Ph.D. in Speech and Dramatic Art from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. more...

Walther Volbach was born in Mainz, Germany in 1897. He was educated at the University of Tuebingen, University of Munich, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Munster in Westphalia in 1920, completing his dissertation on “The Development of Realism on the German Stage.” In the 1920’s he was an assistant to Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theatre in Berlin, and for the next fifteen years or so, Dr. Volbach himself worked as a stage director of plays and operas at the State Theatres in Stuttgart and Berlin, at the Municipal Theatres in Zurich, Danzig and Kiel, and at Vienna’s Volkstheater and Volksopera. He also served as an instructor at academies in Berlin, Vienna, and Kiel. more...