Tucson, Arizona
At the time of her Hall of Fame induction, Karen K. Husted was assistant professor and advisor to the B.F.A. and M.A. students in theatre education at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “I thank Karen Husted for opening my eyes…” wrote one of her graduate students. “I will make a tangible difference in the lives of the young people I teach. She is a person to emulate in the field of theatre education.” In 1992, Husted was named University Theatre Educator, honoring her commitment to continued teacher training for herself and others.
Husted taught high school drama in the Tucson Unified School District for twenty-two years. During that time she was a Thespian sponsor and was the Arizona state Thespian director. She was the state chair for Theatre in Our Schools Month and a founding member of the Arizona Theatre Educators Association, Tucson Theatre Educators, International Mimes and Pantomime, the Network for Performing and Visual Art Schools, Southern Arizona Acting Festival, and Kachina Mime Theatre. Her colleagues credit her with being the catalyst behind bringing teachers together to write a K-12 curriculum for Arizona schools.
