James A. and Dr. Jill Zimmerman

As Jim Zimmerman and Jill Carlson became involved with theatre at Mandan Senior High School, it was apparent that one served the profession vocationally, and another served it as a volunteer activity. Jim Zimmerman did his BS in Secondary Education in Theatre Arts and Music at Dickinson State University. Jill, while working on her med tech degree at NDSU, enjoyed theatre arts in props and stage management. After they became a married couple on July 11, 1975, they moved to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to fulfill Jim’s MFA in Theater. After that, they came back to North Dakota where they cofounded the Dakota Stage, Ltd. in Bismarck. Eventually Jim was offered a position at NDSU’s Department of Theatre Arts, where he worked for four years. At that time Jill obtained her MS in Education, exploring the use of counseling via NDSU. She later completed her PhD at Walden University.