In the mid-1960's Don Heitgerd was a professor of theatre at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. He taught Acting I, II, and II. Besides acting in numerous productions, he directed many of the musicals performed on the main stage of the college, including "The Threepenny Opera" and "Once Upon a Mattress," as well as performing and directing at the college's repertory theatre, Okoboji Summer Theatre, in Okoboji, Iowa.