Paula Vogel
Appointed Eugene O’Neill Professor (Adjunct)
and Chair of the Playwriting Department
at Yale School of Drama

Yale School of Drama (James Bundy, Dean; Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean) is pleased to announce that Yale University President Richard C. Levin has appointed Paula Vogel as the Eugene O’Neill Professor (Adjunct) and Chair of the Department of Playwriting, effective July 1, 2008, for a five-year term.

“Yale School of Drama’s leadership role in theatre training is a source of pride and celebration for the entire University,” says President Richard C. Levin. “The appointment of Ms. Vogel reflects our commitment to attracting not only the most talented students, but also the world’s leading practitioners to serve as their teachers.”

“Paula Vogel has distinguished herself as a unique and profoundly accomplished playwright and teacher,” says Dean James Bundy. “Her extraordinary artistic achievements are matched only by her tireless commitment to, and remarkable track record in, the training and mentoring of young writers. I am certain that her vital creative intelligence and generous collaborative spirit will inspire not only the Playwriting department, but also the entire Yale School of Drama community, and I look forward to her influence on our program for years to come.”

Paula Vogel has served as the Director of MFA and Undergraduate Playwriting at Brown University since 1984, and is the Adele Kellenberg Seaver Professor in Creative Writing. She previously taught courses in the Theatre Arts and Women’s Studies programs at Cornell University. One of the most widely produced and honored playwrights writing in the English language, her plays include The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, How I Learned to Drive, Hot ‘n’ Throbbing, The Baltimore Waltz, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, and The Oldest Profession. Her work has garnered numerous awards and prizes including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Susan Smith Blackburn Award, New York Drama Critics Award, Obie Award, AT&T New Plays Award, among many others, as well as fellowships from the Pew Charitable Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. She is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her plays are published by Theatre Communications Group. Ms. Vogel received her BA from Catholic University and completed her graduate training at Cornell University. She is currently working on a new play entitled A Civil War Christmas, and her memoir Beyond the Beltway.

“I am delighted and honored to join Yale School of Drama, an institution with a distinguished history in the American theatre, and a vibrant theatrical community forged by students and faculty alike,” says Paula Vogel. “My two decades of teaching have convinced me that we have one of the most exciting generations in playwriting now emerging, and I’m looking forward to re-imagining as well as helping to remake American theatre in the 21st century with younger artists and my colleagues at Yale. Yale is well positioned to launch, sustain, and inspire the paths of American artists in the theatre through its dedication to a rigorous, passionate, and communal inquiry and practice of theatre.”

Ms. Vogel will interview applicants for the Playwriting Department’s Class of 2011 this winter and spring, and will assume full-time duties at the School of Drama beginning July 1, 2008.