Professor Emeritus Ivan Hugh Davidson, long-time professor of theatre at Knox College, died July 8 at his home in Mobile, Alabama. He was born in Cedar Mills, Texas, on May 29, 1938, the son of Horace Hugh and Iva Bates Davidson.

He attended schools in Gordonville and Whitesboro, Texas, graduating with honors. He received his B.A. in speech and drama from Hardin-Simmons University, where he was a departmental and campus leader, receiving numerous awards including Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. His M.A. was from Indiana University in Theatre Production, where he was a graduate assistant, served as department stage manager, and was managing director of the Showboat Majestic. He completed his Ph.D. at University of Iowa in dramatic theory and criticism, where he was a graduate teaching fellow, associate instructor, departmental liaison for graduate assistants, chairman of the Graduate Theatre Association, and a founder and officer of the University Graduate Senate.

He taught at Midland College, Fremont, Nebraska from 1962-1966. After completing his doctorate he joined the faculty at Knox College in the fall of 1969, serving for many years as theatre department chairman, as well as serving on numerous standing and appointed committees. He was the recipient of the Phillip Green Wright Lombard Prize for Teaching Excellence and the Caterpillar Faculty Achievement Award, as well as three National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellowship Awards.

A noted acting and voice teacher, Professor Davidson presented workshops around the United States, as well as London, Stratford-on-Avon, Rome, Frankfurt, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. He taught in London with the Associated Colleges of the Midwest program there, and at the famous Moscow Art Theatre. He both acted and directed at the professional, university, and community theatre levels. He was the mentor to numerous students who went on to highly successful professional careers in the theatre, movies, and television. Deliberately trained as a generalist, during his career he taught courses in all aspects of production design, acting, and directing, and the full range of dramatic literature and theatre history. In addition to his work in the theatre department, he was instrumental in Knox's Creative Writing Program, where he taught playwriting. He also created and taught courses in the campus wide Freshman Seminar, Freshman Preceptorial, and Senior Perspective programs.

Upon his retirement in 2004, grateful alumni collected funds to refurbish the classroom where he taught most of his classes and had it dedicated as the Ivan H. Davidson Classroom. Following his retirement, he moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he served as Adjunct Professor of Theatre at The University of South Alabama, directing and teaching classes in acting and in voice for the stage. He was also active in various community theaters in the area conducting acting workshops and directing at Joe Jefferson Players, where he also served as managing director from 2006 -2010. He also served on the board of Mobile's Singing Children.

He was of Anglican faith and while in Galesburg he was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, where he served as a lector, sang in the choir, was a member of the Vestry, served a six year term as Senior Warden, was several times a parish delegate to the Diocesan Convention, and was elected to the Diocesan Council.

Davidson is survived by a daughter, Tanya Barbara (Tim) Coughlin of Cleveland, Ohio, a son, Keirvan Hugh Davidson of Galesburg, Illinois, three grandchildren, Casey, Sean, and Kylie Coughlin of Cleveland, a half-brother Dennis (Georgia) Davidson, Winfield, Alabama, a half-sister, Linda (John) Nelson, Sherman, Texas, two nephews, an aunt and uncle, and several cousins.

Cremation was accorded. A memorial service will be held at a future time. Memorials may be designated to the Knox College Merriweather Thompson Theatre Fund. Obituary and arrangements by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Homes & Crematory, Inc., Daphne, AL, 36526.

Knox College Theatre Productions directed by Ivan Davidson
Seven against Thebes, Aeschylus, 1970
Antigone, Sophocles, 1970
The Crucible, Arthur Miller, 1970
A Delicate Balance, Edward Albee, 1972
Blithe Spirit, Noel Coward, 1972
Long Day's Journey Into Night, Eugene O'Neill, 1975
Electra, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1976
The Maids, Jean Genet, 1976
Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder, 1976
Kiss Me Kate, Cole Porter, 1978
U.S.A.: A Dramatic Review, Shyre & Dos Passos, (co-directed with Robert Whitlach), 1978
The Chinese Wall, Max Frisch, 1978
The Crucible, Arthur Miller, (Repertory Theatre Term) 1979
Ah, Wilderness! Eugene O'Neill, 1979
My Fair Lady, Lerner & Lowe, 1980
Equus, Peter Shaffer, 1981
Biedermann and the Firebugs, Max Frisch, 1981
Philadelphia Story, Philip Barry, 1982
I Never Sang for My Father, Robert Anderson, 1982
Oh, What a Lovely War! Littlewood & Chilton, 1983
The Lark, Jean Anouilh, 1984
Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde, 1985
Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen, 1986
Charley's Aunt, Brandon Thomas, 1986
archy & mehitabel, Darion & Kleinsinger, 1987
Spoon River Anthology, Charles Aidman, 1987
Dark of the Moon, William Berney, 1988
Antigone, Jean Anouilh, 1988
Our Town, Thornton Wilder, 1988
The School for Scandal, Richard Sheridan, 1989
Arms and the Man, George Bernard Shaw, 1990
Burn This, Lanford Wilson, 1993
Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare, 1994
The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde, 1994
The Man Who Came to Dinner, Hart & Kaufman, 1994
Man of La Mancha, Leigh & Darion, 1996
Diary of a Scoundrel, Alexander Ostrovsky, 1997
Relationships (One-Act Plays), Sure Thing, Stonewater Rapture, The Typist, Zipless, 1997
Henry IV, Luigi Pirandello, 1998
Enoch Arden, Tennyson & Strauss, 1998
Treacherous Journey, Evgenia Ginzburg, 1999
Into the Woods, Sondheim & Lapine, 2000
The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Bertolt Brecht, 2000
Three Days of Rain, Richard Greenberg, 2001
Blithe Spirit, Noel Coward, 2002
The Trojan Women, Euripedes, 2004
Ah, Wilderness! Eugene O'Neill, 2004

Below, Ivan Davidson directing a rehearsal of Ah, Wilderness! A scholar of Eugene O'Neill's works, Davidson retired in 2004 and the production of Ah, Wilderness! was his final show at Knox. More photos from Davidson's career are in an album on the Knox Flickr channel.