Frederick Hunter

Professor of Theatre History 1957-1987

Dr. Frederick J. Hunter received a B.A. from the University of California, an M.A. from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and then taught at several universities before coming to The University of Texas at Austin to teach theatre history and criticism in 1957. In 1960, he was appointed curator of the Hoblitzelle Theatre Arts Library at UT Austin. He was both curator and professor of drama until 1971, when he resumed full-time teaching activities and was named graduate advisor. From 1976 to 1978, he served as acting chairman of the Department of Drama.

As professor, he supervised 30 masters' theses and five dissertations in history and criticism. He wrote numerous articles and book reviews for theatre journals and the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. He also wrote A Guide to Theatre and Drama Collections at The University of Texas, Drama Bibliography, Catalog of Norman Bel Geddes Theatre Collection and The Power of Dramatic Form. In addition to his teaching, writing and library administration, he directed productions at The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Oregon, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Whitman College in Washington and Pacific University in Oregon.

Upon his retirement from The University of Texas at Austin in 1987, Hunter was named professor emeritus. The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance Frederick J. Hunter Endowed Scholarship in Drama was created in his honor for graduate students in theatre history and criticism.