Sara Lee Gibb, retired professor of dance and former Dean of the College of Health and Human Performance, will address graduates at the August Convocation for the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
The College of Fine Arts and Communications is pleased to invite Gibb back to the campus to share her knowledge and experiences with students. Gibb has served as an educator, performer, choreographer, and administrator in both national and local organizations throughout her career. She graduated from Brigham Young University in 1959 with a degree in Speech and Drama and then completed a Master of Science degree in Physical Education in 1970.
After acting as the Department Head of Dance at Rick’s College in Idaho, Gibb joined the full time faculty at BYU in 1965 and taught in the Division of Ballet and Modern Dance.
Early in her service at BYU Gibb created the BYU Children’s Dance Program and directed it for the next several years. The program is still continued today and involves over 400 students aged 4-18. Nationally Gibb is also recognized as the president of the National Dance Education Organization from 2003-2005 and also as a board member since the organization’s inception in 1998.
Sara Lee has been a keynote speaker and has taught residencies in Japan, Korea, and New Zealand. Over the last fifteen years she was invited to teach summer courses and workshops and present lectures and seminars in a variety of settings in China. In 2004, 2006, and 2007 Gibb hosted three ‘BYU Leadership in Arts Education’ conferences for Chinese arts leaders, bringing 92 distinguished guests to BYU.
Gibb has always been an advocate of the arts and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Utah Arts Council for eight years, acting as Chairwoman of the Board for the last three of those years. She was president of the National Dance Association and served six years as the United States Representative for daCi (Dance and the Child International), and was instrumental in starting the daCi USA Chapter where she continued on the board for three years. She is currently President of the National Association of Schools of Dance, the prestigious accreditation organization for dance in the US.
Professor Gibb has received multiple honors throughout her career, including the BYU Dance Department Honored Alumni Award (1999), the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award (1987), Dance Professional of the Year Award (1997), Outstanding Leadership Award from the National Dance Education Organization (2006), and many more. Her life has been dedicated to her philosophy that talents are divinely granted and that we have a responsibility to use them in the service of our fellowmen and of our God.
Sara Lee Gibb was born and raised in Tetonia, Idaho. She and her husband, J. David Gibb, recently returned from a 23-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Asia Area. They have five children and fourteen grandchildren.
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