Regents of The Texas State University System adopted resolutions Friday (Nov. 20, 2009) honoring veteran faculty members Howell Holmes Gwin Jr. and Adonia D. Placette.
Gwin, who retired in 2007 after 46 years at Lamar, was designated Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History. Placette, who is retiring in November 2009 after a 27-year Lamar career, was designated Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theater. Both will hold the titles in perpetuity, according to the resolutions, which regents adopted during a meeting that concluded Friday at Lamar.
“Dr. Gwin touched, guided and inspired the intellectual lives and imaginations of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students who learned of centuries past and civilizations afar,” the resolution said. A “masterful storyteller with a booming voice and twinkling eyes,” he “delivered spellbinding lectures that attracted students and scholars alike to his classes, earning for himself the reputation for excellence sought by every instructor.”
The resolution honoring Placette reads, in part: “Dr. Placette touched, guided and inspired the creative and intellectual lives of hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students who learned the theater and sharpened their acting, producing and directing skills. (She is) a tireless volunteer unwilling to say ‘no,’ who devoted countless hours and untold efforts to the arts through volunteer work, workshops and masterful productions, earning for herself the reputation for excellence sought by every civic volunteer.
“Dr. Placette’s high standing and record of accomplishments brought to her and Lamar University attention and awards from the the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival and the Texas Educational Theater Association,” according to the resolution. “(Her) name will be forever synonymous with the patience and fortitude to direct the LU-llaby of Broadway series.”
Gwin earned a bachelor’s degree in English and master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Mississippi State University where he “roamed in countless stacks in innumerable libraries learning classical and medieval history.”
Following in his father’s footsteps, he pursued a career in higher education, joining the Lamar history faculty in 1972. Gwin climbed quickly through the academic ranks, earned tenure and supported his department “by skillfully and expertly teaching many hundreds of classes in dozens of courses ranging from the survey of American history, to ancient Greece and Rome to graduate seminars in classical historiography . . . (He) earned high acclaim among historians for his scholarly works,” according to the resolution.
Gwin served Lamar for a decade as director of graduate studies, said the document, “poring over countless theses and doctoral papers with a sharp eye and a sharper red pen.”
According to the tribute, Gwin closes correspondence with the quip, “I teach for free; I get paid for grading.”
In retirement, “still delights in a good battle of wits . . . and a conversation of weighty substance,” said the proclamation.
Placette first developed and refined her academic and theatrical expertise at Lamar, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and theater and a master’s degree in theater, with an emphasis in acting and directing. She began her career at Vidor High School, garnering many accolades and University Interscholastic League awards during her 10-year tenure.
After earning a doctor of philosophy in arts administration from Texas Tech University, she joined the Lamar faculty in 1982 to work with under-prepared students to improve and enhance their communication skills.
Placette then moved to the theater faculty, according to the resolution “and quickly climbed the academic ranks, earned tenure and supported her program by skillfully and expertly instructing many hundreds of classes in dozens of courses ranging from introduction to theater to Shakespearean studies to graduate courses in advanced directing.”
After her many years as a faculty member, including service as director of Lamar Theater, Placette “still delights in a good show, a well-crafted script and a promising young student,” said the proclamation, which concludes with the traditional theatrical phrase, “Break a leg.”
