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Former MMC Theatre Arts Faculty Member, Rod McLucas, Passes Away

Rod McLucas, a much beloved Theatre Arts faculty member, passed away in early March 2013 of asymptiomatic heart disease. Rod taught acting classes in Shakespeare & Period Styles for several years at MMC, and he directed memorable mainstage productions including Molière’s The Hypochondriac, Shepard’s The Unseen Hand, and Brecht/Weill’s The Three Penny Opera.

Many classes of MMC Theatre Arts seniors benefitted from his distinctive and integrated approach of movement, text and vocal training to realize the heightened worlds of classical plays. He was known as a dedicated and insightful mentor who went to great lengths to engage and nurture students as artists and individuals. In addition to his teaching and directing at MMC, Rod taught at Hunter, NYU and Brooklyn College, and he was a noted professional actor, director and translator who staged classical and experimental works at many venues including Jean Cocteau Repertory, HERE, Edinburgh Fringe, Westbeth, and St. Mark’s. Most recently, in addition to his theatre work, Rod had been working as a translator at the United Nations. A memorial service is planned for Monday, April 8 at 8:30 pm at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, NYC). Rod is survived by his sister Pamela McLucas Byers and brother-in-law Jeff Byers, of San Francisco; sister Susan McLucas, of Boston; brother John C. McLucas, of Baltimore; niece Katherine McLucas Byers, of Boston; cousins Jean Bleisch of New York and Julian Hamer of Ocean Grove, NJ. Though his marriage to Margaret Tucker Ackroyd, currently of Ashland, Oregon, ended in divorce, Rod maintained a close friendship with her and her daughter, Lyric Tucker. We extend our sympathy to Rod’s family and friends, and his many former students.

In addition to the family’s service, MMC is planning a memorial service for Rod to take place on campus during Reunion Weekend, June 14-16, 2013. 

Published: March 28, 2013

Math Department Holds The Eleventh Annual Pi-Day Contest

Every year, the Mathematics department holds a College-wide π-Day contest. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to submit an original sentence, paragraph, poem, or short story that uses the digits of π in order (π ≈ 3.1415926..).