Maud May Babcock (May 2, 1867 – December 31, 1954) was the first female member of 
the University of Utah's faculty. She taught at the university for 46 years, 
beginning in 1892. While there she established the University Theater, originated 
the first college dramatic club in the United States and directed over 800 
plays.

Maud was born in East Worcester, New York to William Wayne Babcock and Sarah Jane 
Butler. She was educated in the public schools of New York then received degrees 
from Welles College in New York, Philadelphia National School of Oratory and, in 
1890, the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

Maud was studying and teaching at Harvard University when she met noted Utahn and 
daughter of Brigham Young Susa Young Gates who, impressed by Babcock's work as a 
summer course instructor in physical culture, convinced her to move to Salt Lake 
City. She established UU's first physical training curriculum, of which speech and 
dramatics were part for several years. After a separate speech and drama department 
was formed, she headed that.

At other times in her professional life, she studied at the University of Chicago 
and schools in London and Paris; served as president of the National Association of 
Teachers of Speech; and, for twenty years, a trustee for the Utah State School for 
Deaf and Blind.

She wrote five books on speech and elocution, and was a renowned traveler and 
lecturer. In addition to her professional interests in drama and elocution, she was 
also a crusader against wasp-waist corsets. She was also famed in Utah for her 
success in bringing big-name talent to the state.

She joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served for several 
years on the general board of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association.

She died at the age of 87.