Betty Jean Jones was an actress, director and teacher whose love for the theater was matched only by her love for her students, her friends said.

It was her passion for theater that put her on Comair's ill-fated plane Thursday night. The 47-year-old University of Michigan professor was returning to her Detroit home after attending the third international Senior Theater Conference in Las Vegas last week with her elderly father.

''She was an ideal member of the faculty because she combined an active practitioner's passion - as actress, director and dramatist - with very impressive credentials as a scholar,'' said Paul Boylan, dean of UM's School of Music and vice provost for the arts.

Ms. Jones was single and had no children.

She worked at UM since 1994, and last year was named associate dean of UM's Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

She loved playwright Eugene O'Neill and his talent for telling tragedies without resorting to melodrama, Mr. Boylan said. She also enjoyed African-American plays.

''She was a wonderfully inquisitive and eager-to-learn type of individual,'' said Tom Behm, director of University of North Carolina at Greensboro theater. ''I remember a production she did of the Greek drama Medea - it was so beautifully realized.''