Senior theater scholar Hu Yao-heng (胡耀恆) passed away on Feb. 2 at the age of 88. Honoring Hu’s devotion and contribution to theater education in the country, the Ministry of Culture’s Arts Development Department Director-General Chou Ya-ching (周雅菁) presented a posthumous certificate of commendation to Hu’s widow, Julie B. Hu (梅裘迪).
Hu, born in 1936, completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Foreign Languages at National Taiwan University (NTU). He pursued further education in the U.S. at Indiana University, earning a Ph.D. in drama and comparative literature. Upon his return to Taiwan, he served as a faculty member at the Department of Foreign Languages at NTU and the English Department at Shih Hsin University.
In 1995, Hu founded the Department of Drama and Theater’s master program at NTU, followed by the establishment of the undergraduate program in 1999.
Hu’s scholarly work primarily revolves around theater theories, spanning both Eastern and Western traditional and modern theater, as well as extensive research into theatrical history. In 2016, he published “A History of Western Theater,” a comprehensive work that took him a decade to complete. This book is dedicated to advancing theater education, nurturing future generations, and broadening cultural perspectives.