THE DALLAS INSTITUTE PROGRAM DIRECTORS

Larry Allums, Ph.D. - Executive Director
Dr. Allums began his tenure with the Institute in 1997, assuming the title of Interim Director after nineteen years as Professor of English, Chairman of the English Department, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Mobile. In 1998 he became Executive Director.  He has published numerous scholarly essays and is editor of and contributor to The Epic Cosmos. He also has extensive experience with public programs in the humanities. His chief intellectual interests include Southern literature, classical and modern epic, and the works of Dante.

Claudia Allums, Ph.D. - Associate Director & Director of the Teachers Academy
Dr. Allums came to the Institute in 2004, after serving seventeen years as a high school teacher and administrator and five years as a university visiting professor of English and Associate Academic Dean.  Her first contact with the Dallas Institute was in 1989 when she attended the Summer Institute for Teachers. After a second Summer Institute, she went to graduate school at the University of Dallas, where she received a Ph.D. degree in 2002.  Her scholarly interests are currently focused on Southern literature, particularly the works of William Faulkner.

Joanne H. Stroud. Ph.D. - Director of Publications
A Founding Fellow of the Institute, Dr. Stroud has taught both literature and psychology at the University of Dallas. In addition to directing Institute Publications, she is creator of the Forum Luncheon series, which presents distinguished speakers from widely varying fields of activity and interest.  She is author of The Bonding of Will and Desire, and in 2005, she published Choose Your Element, a children's collection based on the elemental works of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, six of whose volumes have been published in English by Dallas Institute Publications.

Gail Thomas. Ph.D. - Director of the Center for the City
Dr. Thomas, Co-founder of the Institute and its Director for seventeen years, has been a major catalyst for the active presence of the humanities in the life of the city. She was instrumental in the creation of Pegasus Plaza in downtown Dallas and is currently playing a major role in the Trinity River Corridor Project.  She has edited several volumes of essays by Institute Fellows and speaks widely both in this country and abroad on urban issues.  She also teaches several courses at the Institute, including The Healing Traditions and Conversations on Imagining Dallas.