Famous people's places / Rochester Hills, MI
Oakland University
A public university on the former Meadow Brook estate near Rochester, founded in 1957, whose short-lived Academy of Dramatic Art trained actor Curtis Armstrong.
01 / The story of this place
Make time for these
Oakland University grew out of a 1957 gift from Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of automaker John Dodge, and her second husband Alfred Wilson, who donated their Meadow Brook estate to Michigan State University to found a satellite campus. It became an independent public university, Oakland University, in 1963, and today enrolls around 16,000 students on a wooded campus that still includes the Wilsons' Tudor Revival mansion, Meadow Brook Hall. In the 1970s the university ran an Academy of Dramatic Art, a conservatory-style acting program; actor Curtis Armstrong, later known for Risky Business and Revenge of the Nerds, graduated from it in 1975. The academy itself no longer exists as a separate program, its training folded into the university's Department of Theatre.
- Founded in 1957 on the donated Meadow Brook estate
- Independent university since 1963
- Curtis Armstrong graduated its Academy of Dramatic Art in 1975
- Campus includes the historic Meadow Brook Hall mansion
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 8
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Curtis Armstrong born 1953 · actor, voice actor
Studied here
He graduated from the university's Academy of Dramatic Art in 1975; the academy itself no longer exists.
- Regina Carter born 1966 · jazz violinist
Studied here
She majored in jazz here under Marvin “Doc” Holladay, graduating in 1985.
- Dunya Mikhail born 1965 · poet, journalist, teacher
Worked here
She teaches Arabic here as a special lecturer.
- Lettie Beckon Alston 1953–2014 · composer, pianist, professor
Worked here
She taught music at Oakland University from 1991 and ran her Lettie Alston and Friends concerts there from 1995 to 2008.
- Matilda Dodge Wilson 1883–1967 · heiress, philanthropist, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan, co-founder of Oakland University
Founded
The university founded on her donated Meadow Brook estate, originally as Michigan State University–Oakland.
- David DiChiera 1935–2018 · opera impresario, composer, musicologist
Worked here
He joined the new university's music faculty in 1962 and later chaired its music department.
- Elizabeth Parcells 1951–2005 · coloratura soprano, voice teacher
Worked here
After returning to Michigan she coached voice students at Oakland University.
- Karen Newman · singer
Studied here
She studied music here.
Is this your venue? Update this page for free ↗
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.
We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.
Official website & visitor information ↗