After 32 years teaching at the University of Minnesota, Penumbra Theatre founder Lou Bellamy is hanging up his professor's robe.

Bellamy is set to retire from the university, but not the theater life, this spring. The university has announced a Feb. 22 fete in his honor at the Elmer Andersen Library.

Bellamy has taught courses in theater at the university since 1979, three years he founded Penumbra. He became an asscociate professor in 1994, giving students a theoretical framework in the classroom and practical experience through theater.

"He has a special insight on how to move from the theoretical to the practical," said Lance Brockman, a theater professor and designer who often works with Bellamy. "What he does with our students and what he does with a professional cast is exactly the same."

Bellamy championed the creation of the August Wilson Fellowship, which combines his love of learning with hands-on theater experience. Faye Price, artistic producing director at Pillsbury House Theatre, was the August Wilson inaugural fellow.