Thelma Jean (Wardrop) Shinn Richard, 70, passed away on January 26, 2013.  Her parents and two older brothers preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband Jon, a brother and her five children. She was stepmother to eight stepchildren. She leaves 18 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Thelma will be remembered by many as a brilliant professor, actress, and author. She attended Connecticut State College and Purdue University earning a doctorate in American Literature. She taught at the College of Our Lady of the Elms and Westfield Sate College in Massachusetts before coming to ASU in 1975. Thelma was the founding director of the ASU Women's Studies Program and a professor of English until 2004. In 1987 she coordinated the ASU AIFS study program in London and she was also a Fulbright Lecturer in Spain and South Africa. Thelma was a nationally known lecturer and the author of three academic books as well as numerous articles for academic publications. A sometimes playwright, she frequently acted in Arizona and California community theater productions and  was a delegate of Theater Education in South Africa. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, March 9 at the ASU Memorial Union from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.