In a few short weeks, Wabash will say farewell to a pillar of the community. After 32 years of dedicated service, Professor of Theater and Music Department Chair Michael Abbott ’85 will retire, having left an indelible mark on the fine arts at Wabash.
For decades, Abbott has been more than just a professor. His advocacy for the humanities has been tireless, and he blazed trails in several departments. More than his innovative contributions to the arts at Wabash however, Abbott will be remembered most fondly for his warm, effortless rapport with students and colleagues alike.
After graduating from Wabash and Columbia Film School, Abbott was hired back to teach theater at his alma mater in 1994, where he immediately sank his teeth into teaching. Returning to Wabash at a time when the theater department was expanding, Abbott was free of the pressure of replacing another professor.
“Wabash decided that they were going to add a third faculty member to each of the arts departments, so I wasn’t replacing anyone,” said Abbott. “I heard about the job, and I thought, ‘I’m just going to apply and see what happens.’ I came for the interview, and I felt at home in a way that made sense to me.”
With an advanced fine arts degree from an Ivy League school and work experience in New York City, returning to work in rural Indiana may not be the obvious choice for most people. However, Abbott believes that living and working in Crawfordsville has been to the benefit of his creative career by harnessing the unique character of both Wabash and its students.
“Narratives with fathers and sons have kind of been the through-line of my creative career, I’m sure that’s partly because my relationship with my father was very fraught,” said Abbott. “So Wabash suddenly becomes a place where you can do that work. You’ve got students who are up for that, who bring their own story about men and masculinity. We wouldn’t have used those terms back then, but that’s kind of what we were doing.”
If Abbott was just a theater professor, his creative and educational skills would speak for themselves. However, his broad curiosity and restless spirit pushed him to experiment inside and outside of the classroom. Abbott introduced film to Wabash’s curriculum, spearheading the creation of the Film and Digital Media minor. Abbott also pioneered courses in playwriting and sound design, giving students agency in all stages of the creative process.
“In every class, he shows his students why their work is important,” said Chris Board ’27. “In the sound design class, he showed us how sound really made ‘1984’ come alive.”
Abbott has never limited his interests to just one art form. His long-standing passion for video games in particular has made him stand out, exemplifying both his deep knowledge and approachable persona. Few professors have gaming controllers on their desks, and fewer still have co-taught game design courses with a “Skyrim” and “Fallout” developer or published a visionary blog on video games as art when no other academic was. Abbott has done both.
“As an employee, I’m most grateful to Wabash that they allow you to indulge your restlessness,” said Abbott. “People with a curious mind get restless, you just get itchy. There was never a point when anyone at the College said, ‘you shouldn’t be doing that,’ or ‘that’s not in your job description.’ That’s been huge for me, just to stay alive.”
Abbott has ingrained himself in the Wabash community in more ways than one. Few know that Abbott met his wife, Department Chair and Professor of Rhetoric Jennifer Abbott, in the Fine Arts Center, the building where they both work. With a meet-cute fit for a rom-com (they literally, physically bumped into each other as one left the men’s restroom), Michael and Jennifer Abbott have quietly been one of the power couples of the Wabash faculty.
“In addition to being tall, dark and handsome, he has a terrific sense of humor,” said Jennifer Abbott. “He has very low ego needs. He doesn’t need recognition, so he’s very at peace with himself. I think we’re all drawn to that, I was certainly drawn to that.”
As colleagues, the Abbotts have been able to observe each other shine professionally first-hand, a privilege not all couples can have.
“I’ve always admired his ability to really teach to the people,” said Jennifer Abbott. “He’s not just teaching content or teaching a class, he’s always teaching to the people.”
Some people, even those at the top of their field, often need to let their mind rest or avoid all things work in order to relax. Not so with Abbott, whose tireless curiosity never turns off.
“He has an insatiable thirst to learn,” said Jennifer Abbott. “While I’m watching television and mellowing out at the end of the night, he is often in his study watching YouTube videos or he’s playing with something to learn more.”
Abbott’s warmth is not limited to family or students, often recruiting people into the Wabash community.
“His friendship and belief in me is why I applied for this position,” said Academic Administrative Coordinator to the Fine Arts Center Julia Phipps. “He’s helped me gather more confidence about myself and my abilities, both in acting and in my career.”
While the Theater and Music departments must move on without Abbott, his presence will be dearly missed by all who had the pleasure to work and learn with him.
“He’s irreplaceable,” said Phipps. “The new tenure track faculty in theater is not replacing [Abbott]. She is filling a hole that he has left, but she is not expected to be Michael because no one can be Michael.”
Of course, retirement is far from the end of Abbott’s creative career; rather, it’s just the next opportunity for him to sink his teeth into. Instead of teaching, Abbott will fill his time with international travel, various creative projects, cooking and plenty of golf.
“He’ll keep being industrious,” said Jennifer Abbott. “There’s going to be no stopping the man.”
This is not to say that Abbott’s retirement will not be a bittersweet moment for the accomplished professor. While his projects have been wide and varied, his greatest source of pride stems from his primary calling: that of an educator.
“I think teachers live through the outcomes of their students, that’s the ultimate gratification,” said Michael Abbott. “I can walk out of a room and feel like class went really well, but it’s not the same kind of high as when a student delivers something, maybe years after, that astonishes you.”
Wabash will be able to gather and send off Abbott with a farewell reception in the Fine Arts Center’s Littell Lobby at 4:15 on Thursday, April 30. The opportunity to tribute Abbott’s monumental contributions to Wabash College will be an opportunity to remind him that he will always be a part of the College community, even as an emeritus.
“With Wabash, I feel like I’m always in service of this mission that I believe in,” said Michael Abbott. “It’s the feeling that I signed on to something that needs my devotion and my attention. What I’ll miss is just that feeling of being part of this beautiful thing that’s bigger than me.”