Ailene Cole played a major role in the advancement of theater at Augsburg College, leading its Drama Department, directing plays and inspiring performers.

Cole, who was honored with a scholarship fund and a room at the Minneapolis school named for her, died Friday at Augustana Health Care Center in Minneapolis. She was 96 and had lived in her Minneapolis home until about 18 months ago, said niece Deb Prevost.

Cole was hired in 1956 at Augsburg, where she taught for 29 years and directed scores of plays. In 2007, the Green Room at Augsburg Theater was named in her honor, a nod to her helping develop the Little Theater, which had been a condemned building on campus until she led its conversion.

"She literally built that theater from the ground up," Prevost said. "She spent countless hours there sewing costumes, building sets, but most importantly, spending time with her students."

Before Augsburg, Cole spent the first 19 years of teaching in the southern Minnesota communities of Lake Crystal, St. James and Cannon Falls. She started directing plays in Cannon Falls. Throughout her 49 years in teaching theater, she directed more than 100 plays.

"She has students all over the country that are teachers or are teaching drama," Prevost said. "The ripple effect of her life will continue for a long time."

The classes she taught at Augsburg ran the gamut, from stage direction to lighting and design to interpretive reading.

"She seemed like she lived and breathed theater and was completely consumed with passion for the forum," Jenni Lilledahl, a student of Cole's and current co-owner of the Brave New Workshop comedy stage in Minneapolis, said in an interview last year with a campus publication. "She influenced me as an artist, and I always admired her from a distance."

Prevost said she was impressed by Cole's desire to learn, even late in life.

"I skyped with her just the Friday after Thanksgiving," Prevose said. "She never quit learning."

Cole was born on Aug. 26, 1915, in Fort Benton, Mont. Her family moved to Minnesota, and she graduated from Kasota High School as valedictorian in 1932. She graduated summa cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., with a degree in education. She completed her master's in 1949 and earned her doctorate in philosophy in 1974 from the University of Minnesota.

Cole had no survivors in her immediate family. She was preceded in death by a brother, Albert Cole, and a sister, Lucile Prevost. A memorial service was held Monday at the Augsburg College Hoversten Chapel.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482