Theatre’s Rich Brown is the state’s Professor of the Year

“Theater truly has the power to impact lives and change them for the better."

Associate Theatre Arts Professor Rich Brown is perhaps best known for his students’ collaborative creations.

Now, he’s being honored as 2015 Washington Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

He specializes in devised theatre, a collaborative creative process in which writers, designers, actors, directors and others work together to develop a play from scratch.

Brown and his students have devised award-winning plays that celebrate our culture’s differences, including 2015’s “/faust,” 2013’s “Soapbox” and 2011’s “Us,” the latter two honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with “Us” winning three national awards.

“Theater truly has the power to impact lives and change them for the better, and that is the belief I take into the studio each day – and I hope my students share that belief,” Brown says.

Brown, who has taught at Western since 2006, traveled to Washington, D.C., in November to accept the award. Geology’s Scott Linneman won the award in 2013.

Mihael Preda