In Memoriam: Toni Beck Bosner, 1924-2017

Toni Beck Bosner, the founding chair of the department of dance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, died on June 17 at an assisted living facility in Dallas. She was 92 years old.

A native of New York, Bosner did not start to dance until she had graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio. Returning to New York, she earned a master’s degree in dance at Columbia University and got work dancing in Broadway shows and television.

For a brief period, Bosner taught at Washington University in St. Louis. She moved to Dallas with her husband and in 1958 opened the Toni Beck School of Modern Dance. She joined the faculty at Southern Methodist University in 1962, when the dance program was part of the physical education department. She remained on the faculty at the university until 1985.