Mary Ella Montague Dance Endowed Scholarship

Dr. Mary Ella “Monty” Montague was the founder of dance education at Sam Houston State University. She came to Huntsville as a faculty member for Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1945, the last year of World War II, and retired after 39 years in 1984. During her career she raised dance from a few folk-dance classes in the Department of Physical Education for Women to a fully recognized coeducational department and art form in the College of Fine Arts; in fact, one of the best in the country. By the early 1970s, Monty had moved to the position of Chair of the Department of Dance where she was eventually able to move the discipline from the Department of Kinesiology in the College of Education to the Department of Theater and Dance in the College of Fine Arts. After the big oil bust of the early ’80s caused the consolidation of colleges at Sam, eliminating the College of Fine Arts, Monty was appointed Associate Dean in the newly formed College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Mary Ella Montague set a great example of doing one’s best wherever the opportunity presented itself. Her administrative profile helped women across the SHSU leadership culture to advance, paving the way to Presidents Dana Hoyt and Alisa White. Her artistic vision gave Huntsville a cultural gem that shone from afar.