College of Arts and Sciences

Each year, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) presents the Outstanding Alumni Award to a former student in the College. The award was instituted in 1998 to honor alumni who have distinguished themselves through their remarkable contributions to a profession, through their ability to provide leadership, through public service activities, through outstanding creative endeavors or through other accomplishments.

Maxine Cooper McCall graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in English and library science. In 1965 she received a master’s degree in English, with certification in junior college education.

Over the course of a 30-year career with Burke County Schools, McCall’s passion for theater shaped her approach to education. She designed and taught a pilot program for academically gifted students: four years of advanced study (grades 9–12) in English and the humanities. Later, as the coordinator for language arts, gifted education and second language programs, she oversaw curriculum design and teacher training for grades K–12. She directed Drexel school/community musicals productions and the Valdese outdoor drama “From This Day Forward.”

McCall has supported numerous funds and initiatives across the university, including generous donations to scholarships and facility improvements in the Department of English, the Department of Theatre and Dance, the Hayes School of Music and University Libraries. She has served on the Department of Theatre and Dance Advisory Council and is a member of the Rhododendron Society, Bell Ringers Society and Chancellor’s Society.

She has also served on governing boards for multiple county, state and national nonprofit organizations, including Anderson University (Anderson, Indiana), the NC Delta Kappa Gamma Educational Foundation and the North Carolina Society of Historians, of which she is president. She resides in Drexel.

Read her full biography

From left: CAS Development Director Jasmin McFayden ’10, CAS Associate Dean Donna Lillian, CAS Outstanding Alumni Awardee Maxine Cooper McCall ’60 ’65, Department of Threatre and Dance Chair Michael Helms, Penland School of Craft Chief Advancement Officer Laura Laughridge ’86 ’89, and Theatre and Dance Professor Ray Miller at the Appalachian State University Alumni Association Alumni Awards Gala on July 11, 2026, in the Grandview Ballroom of Kidd Brewer Stadium’s north end zone facility. Photo by Chase Reynolds