Robert Hansen ’73 graduated with a theatre and English double major. He earned a master’s degree in theatre while a student at Florida State University and, later, a doctorate in the same field from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. As an instructor of theatre at Bowling Green University in Ohio, Hansen also chaired the theatre department and served as managing director of the Huron Playhouse (Ohio’s oldest continuing summer theatre). Afterward, he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG). There he served as the head of the communication and theatre department and later the broadcasting/cinema and theatre department.
Currently, he is an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNCG his responsibilities include curriculum and teaching, freshman seminars, and the online bachelor of arts in liberal studies program. In 2007, he donated part of his extensive collection of theatre materials to the UNCG libraries, thus establishing the Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection. Hansen has also served as officer in the North Carolina Theatre Association, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology—Ohio Chapter, the American Theatre Association, the Southeastern Theatre Conference, and the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
In addition to his theatre work, Hansen has been active in historic preservation of the Moravian community in Bethania, North Carolina. He is the star of the 60-minute documentary film Saving the Hansen House, broadcast on North Carolina Public Television. The film, by Deni and Will McIntyre, documents restoration of an 18th century Moravian farmhouse while investigating its history.
