Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
The focus of Dr. Phillip Moss’s career has been on theatre and theatre education. He received a B.F.A. in theatre performance, an M.F.A. in theatre direction, and a doctorate in art education, all at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Dr. Moss taught drama at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. After four years he became the theatre department chair, overseeing the dance, visual arts, and music departments. The theatre department expanded under Dr. Moss to offer drama to students from the third through the twelfth grades.
The ULS theatre program achieved national recognition with limited dollars and a small pool of students (the total student enrollment at the school is 650) under Dr. Moss’ guidance. Many people think of University Liggett as a performing arts school because of its frequent performances at the Michigan chapter Thespian conference and the Thespian Festival.
In addition to his responsibilities at ULS, Dr. Moss has served on the Michigan Educational Theatre Association board since 1992. His initial focus was on state and national funding for the arts and national initiatives with stated goals and objectives. His achievements in this area include developing performance standards for the State Department of Education and revising Michigan’s state goals and objectives in the arts.
He served for four years on the EdTA Governing Board as a director, and as vice president and then president from 1999-2003.
In the words of Meaghan Dunham, a theatre instructor at ULS, “Dr. Moss is on a lifelong mission to fight for theatre’s relevancy in a less-than-accommodating educational environment. He truly possesses a love of learning and a joy in seeing others do the same.”
