NORMAN – Nationally noted playwright and associate professor Alicia Kae Koger has been awarded the 2015 Irene and Julian J. Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts at the University of Oklahoma.
At OU, Koger has taught theatre history, dramaturgy and dramatic literature. She was instrumental in creating the curriculum for OU’s Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a special emphasis in dramaturgy, the first of which was awarded in 2004. This program at OU is now one of only four across the United States and Canada.
In addition to her teaching duties, Koger serves as graduate liaison, honors adviser and curriculum coordinator for the Peggy Dow Helmerich School of Drama. Also, she serves as coordinator for the Faith Broome Playwriting Program.
Prior to joining OU’s drama faculty in 1991, she was assistant professor and chief undergraduate advisor for the Department of Theatre at the University of Massachusetts.
“I became a professor to share my knowledge and passion for the theatre with students, have a positive effect on their lives and learn from them in return,” professor Koger wrote in her Statement of Teaching Philosophy.
Author of numerous publications on teaching, she also has presented on theatre pedagogy at national conferences and has assisted in the development of seven new scripts for American Playwrights.
Koger has achieved multiple awards for her work as a student adviser, including the National Academic Advising Association Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Advising Faculty, OU Provost’s Outstanding Advising Award, President’s Distinguished Faculty Mentor Program and College of Fine Arts Outstanding Adviser Award.
Her public service includes serving as chair for a number of discussion panels. She has served as chair for the Helmerich School of Drama Costume Design Search Committee and has been a member of many university committees at OU, including the College of Fine Arts Dean’s Faculty Advisory Committee and university wide Academic Program Review Committee. She also has been part of many master’s thesis committees at OU.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Koger earned her Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism.
