F. Robert Hollowell was born in El Dorado. He graduated from
Wichita North High School in 1937 and took his BME degree from
Wichita State in 1946. He earned the MME degree from WSU in
1954. He studied conducting with James Robertson and with Pierre
Monteux. He taught strings in Hutchinson from 1946 to 1949 and
instrumental music in the Wichita schools from 1949 to 1970.
From 1970 to 1979 he was coordinator of instrumental music for
the Wichita Public Schools. Hollowell served the KMEA as
president from 1959 to 1961 and was the president of the Wichita
Teachers Association in 1966. He is a long time member of the
Wichita Musicians Union and was a charter member of the viola
section of the Wichita Symphony, which he and his father helped
organize. For many years he has served the KMEA as its
executive secretary.