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Emeritus faculty member Ralph Haugen dies

By David Gonnerman '90
August 1, 2009

Ralph Haugen, professor emeritus of theater, died Thursday, July 30, in Northfield. He was 84.

Haugen taught at St. Olaf from 1949 to 1990, during which time he directed more than 60 productions, beginning with Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid and ending with The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux. He once told St. Olaf Magazine that his favorite scripts included Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice, plus George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

He taught courses on a variety of subjects in the Speech-Theatre Department -- from "Fundamentals of Speech" to "Japanese Theater." He led the college's "Theater in London" Interim program four times, and the Global Semester in 1977.

Haugen also was instrumental in initiating, developing and coordinating plans for the college's Speech-Theater Building that was dedicated in 1977. In 1990 the Studio Theater in the Speech-Theatre building was renamed the Ralph Haugen Theater.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, Aug. 30, at 3 p.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield (500 W. 3rd St.).

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.