Van Zelst, Louann

Biography

Louann K. Hurter was born in May, 1928, in Chicago. She attended Northwestern University where she took a bachelor of science degree in 1949 and a master of arts degree in 1951; both degrees were in Speech. During her years at Northwestern Hurter participated in University Theatre and WAA-NU productions. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Alpha Lambda Delta freshman scholastic honorary, and Phi Beta music and speech professional fraternity.

Hurter was prominent in University activities as an alumnus. She served as a co-chair for the campaign to build Northwestern's Shiel Center and Galvin Chapel; was a member of the School of Speech Steering Committee (1974-1977); edited Dialogue, the School of Speech newsletter (1976-1977); and was a director-at-large of the University's Alumni Association. In 1978 she received Northwestern's Alumni Service Award. Between 1980 and 1983 she was an alumni member of the Northwestern Board of Trustees.

Hurter became an authority on the culture and art of Native Americans and lectured extensively on related topics. She has been recognized for her service on behalf of Catholic schools in metropolitan Chicago.

On December 29, 1951, Hurter married Theodore Van Zelst, also a Northwestern alumnus (B.S., 1945, Civil Engineering; M.S., 1948, Civil Engineering). The couple have three children: Anne, Jean, and David. In 1981 the Van Zelsts funded the Van Zelst Research Chair in Communication at Northwestern's School of Speech.

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