Dear Advisory Council members,
I write to share the happy news that Professor Robert Ramirez is now the chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, effective immediately. He will be holder of the Z.T. Scott Family Chair in Drama and the Susan Menefee Ragan Regents Professorship in Fine Arts.
Leading a department as complex as Theatre and Dance is never a small challenge. Doing that as an interim is extra challenging. Being interim chair during a pandemic when the world has been turned upside down and we’re asked to reinvent our pedagogical practices virtually overnight is something none of us could have anticipated and is surely nothing Robert ever signed up for in advance.
I take it as a most encouraging indication of his promise and dedication as a chair that he has not for one moment shrunk from the challenges of the last six weeks. To the contrary, he’s risen to the challenge, which I hope and trust is the greatest we’ll ever face as a department and college.
Robert has been serving ably as head of the Acting program and was recently promoted to full Professor. He also serves as the current vice president of the University Resident Theatre Association, the national organization of graduate theatre programs. My expectation is that his national influence will bring greater attention and prominence to the Department of Theatre and Dance.
It’s also not to be overlooked that Robert will be the first Latinx department chair in the College of Fine Arts. I’ve asked him to provide leadership to Theatre and Dance, but also to the entire college in our continued efforts to diversify our faculty, staff, student enrollments and, most importantly, the college’s many curricula.
Robert’s done a terrific job these past several months in this interim role, and I look forward to him continuing as the chair of the department and the academic leadership of the college.
Excelsior!
Doug Dempster
Dean
