Mark Charney has served as the Director of the School of Theatre & Dance for 11 years.

Mark Charney, the Director of the School of Theatre & Dance in the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts at Texas Tech University, was inducted as part of the 2024 class into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre on April 21 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Charney, an award-winning playwright, has served as director since 2012 and has since had numerous works performed all around the world.

Charney said his induction was “humbling and exciting, especially to be celebrated by some of the best scholars, performers and theater practitioners in the world. Much of the event was hosted by Phyllis ‘Phylicia’ Rashad, and to be honored in this way, this lifetime achievement award, for which you must be nominated and voted upon unanimously by existing fellows, exceeded all expectations.”

After retiring as professor emeritus from his alma mater, Clemson University, Charney joined the faculty at Texas Tech. He has served as past chair for Region IV, part member of the National Selection Team and as National Coordinator of the Institute for Theatre Journalism and Advocacy/Dramaturgy for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He most recently served as the Associate Director of the National Critics Institute for the O’Neill Theatre Center for 19 years.

His award-winning works include “The Power Behind the Palette,” which won the David Mark Cohen Award. His play “Shooting Blanks” was featured at the Prague Fringe Festival that same year in 2016. Along with collaborator Cory Norman, their play, “Empty Roads with Cars,” was produced at the International Festival in Turkey in 2021, and their commissioned work about Jack Kevorkian, “If Christ was Born in a Barn, Dyin’ in a Van Ain’t so Bad,” was developed in London in 2021-22 and is being considered for a London premiere. 

He is an honorary inductee of the Actors Hall of Fame based on his work with criticism and dramaturgy, and he served six years on the National Board of the National Association of Schools of Theatre and Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Southeast Asia.

“Dr. Charney’s induction is a testament to his long career in theater, and to his quality as an educator,” said Martin Camacho, dean of the college. “TCVPA is honored to have a person of such distinction among our faculty.”

The College of Fellows of the American Theatre is composed of actors, critics, designers, playwrights, producers, program administrators, distinguished teachers and scholars. It works to promote and encourage the highest standards of research, writing and creativity in educational and professional theatre by honoring the service and accomplishments of nationally recognized individuals.