Robinson, Horace W., 1909-

Horace Robinson (1910-2009) University of Oregon professor emeritus was born October 26, 1909 in Apache, Oklahoma, to William and Ora Moran Robinson. He married Gwendolyn P. West on Dec. 29, 1932, in Oklahoma City; his wife died July 6, 2003. He attended Oklahoma City public schools, Oklahoma City University and the University of Iowa.

He was a professor at the University of Montana and UCLA prior to joining the University of Oregon faculty as technical director and scene designer in 1933. Between 1946 and 1970 he was director of the University of Oregon’s Theatre.

In 1949,Robinson designed a new, innovative theatre building for the campus that was named after him when he retired in 1975 after 42 years of teaching and directing over 100 productions. During four decades on campus, he always taught a full class load, took students on USO tours to entertain troops, directed most major university productions, ran the speech department, served in many civic organizations and on numerous theatre boards and associations, and published a book on theatre architecture.

Among his many awards, in 2008 he was recognized by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) for his contributions to the theatre field.

Horace Robinson died on October 13, 2009. At that time he was survived by two sons, Douglas Robinson of Portland and Thomas Robinson of Springfield; a daughter, Pamela Fritchman of Portland; and three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

From the guide to the Horace Robinson papers, 1930-1979, 1926-2004, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)