Published: July 11, 2012

When a young caller for the University of Colorado Boulderā€™s annual giving program asked Roe Green a decade ago if she would consider increasing her $100 annual gift to $150, he was the first to get the hint that Green might become a key part of the theater program from which sheā€™d graduated in 1970.Ģż

ā€œI told the caller, ā€˜Oh, I think Iā€™d like to give more,ā€™ ā€ recalled Green.Ģż

After launching and funding an annual theater-artist residency program now in its eighth year at CU-Boulder, Green took her passion for this art form and for CU even further. Last month, Green committed $2 million to establish an endowed chair in theater at the Department of Theatre and Danceā€”the first endowed chair in an arts discipline in CU-Boulderā€™s College of Arts and Sciences. It will be the departmentā€™s first fully endowed faculty position and the largest gift ever given to CU-Boulder theater by a large margin.Ģż

ā€œThis is a real game-changer for us,ā€ says department chair Bud Coleman, who will hold the Roe Green Chair in Theatre when funding begins in 2015. ā€œItā€™s a sign from the donor, from the outside world, that says, ā€˜What you do counts.ā€™ It really validates theater training at a liberal arts university.ā€

Green wanted to see Coleman as the inaugural chairholder because of his deep commitment to the artistic success and future careers of his studentsā€”an aspect thatā€™s very important to Green.Ģż

An endowed chair, which provides reliable and perpetual funding for a specified faculty position, is a prestigious indicator of the strength of an academic program and can help recruit world-class educators and researchers in a specialized field. CU has roughly 80 endowed chairs, more than 15 of which have been funded since the 2006 start of CUā€™s $1.5 billion Creating Futures campaign. Ģż

Green first became hooked on theater as a CU-Boulder sophomore when she volunteered to take notes for a faculty director. She became enamored with various backstage and managerial aspects of the art form during her pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts in theater at CU-Boulder. She later pursued a masterā€™s degree in theater at Kent State University, where she also has established a residency program and has made a gift to name the Roe Green Center for the School of Theatre and Dance on that campus.Ģż

Green speaks passionately of her desire to connect people and her role as a catalyst for new works as her motivations behind the Theatre Artist Residency series. Artists who have spent four- to seven-week residencies at CU as part of this series have included playwright/directors Lee Blessing (ā€œTwo Roomsā€) Ami Dayan (ā€œThe Awakening of Springā€) and John Cameron (ā€œ14ā€).

In a day and age when the arts are often overlooked by those seeking more ā€œcareer-orientedā€ pursuits, Greenā€”who is on numerous boards including the College of Arts and Sciences Deanā€™s Advisory Council and the honorary board of the Colorado Shakespeare Festivalā€”stands up for the importance of theater. ā€œTheater helps in all walks of life,ā€ Green says. ā€œIt gives you an opportunity to speak in front of people. What makes us human are the arts.ā€