Puppet theater in education

Frank Willard Ballard was born on 7 December 1929 in Alton, Illinois. He received his B.A. (1952) from Shurtleff College and his M.A. (1953) from the University of Illinois. Ballard was a professor of dramatic arts at the University of Connecticut, retiring in 1989. In 1966, he established the first bachelor of fine arts degree program in puppetry at any American university. A decade later he founded the National Puppetry Institute at the University of Connecticut.