Michael Yeargan ('73) Named Oenslager Professor in the Practice
July 29, 2020
Yale University President Peter Salovey and the trustees of Yale University have named Michael Yeargan the Donald M. Oenslager Professor in the Practice of Design. This chair honors the late Donald M. Oenslager, who was the first Chair of the Design Department, teaching from 1925-1970.
One of the most respected scenic designers in the world, Michael has designed more than 50 productions at Yale Repertory Theatre, and scores more at American Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Lincoln Center Theatre, Long Wharf Theater, and the New York Shakespeare Festival, among others. His opera credits include work at Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera, Opera Australia, Royal Opera House, and San Francisco Opera, among others. He has worked more than a dozen times on Broadway and is a three-time Drama Desk Award and two-time Tony Award winner.
The distinction of this chair carries historical significance: Michael is both a beneficiary and an architect of the extraordinary history of instruction in Design at Yale. He arrived at the School of Drama in the fall of 1969 as a first-year student and so was taught by both Donald M. Oenslager and by Ming Cho Lee. Ming succeeded Professor Oenslager as Chair of the Design department and taught at Yale for 49 years, eventually becoming the first holder of the Donald M. Oenslager chair endowed by Professor Oenslager’s extended family. Michael was recruited to the faculty by Ming just one year after his graduation from the School, and he succeeded Ming as co-Chair with Stephen Strawbridge in 2012.
“Speaking as Michael’s former student and sometime collaborator,” said Dean James Bundy, “I cherish him as an artist and teacher because his upbeat, imaginative approach to creative challenges is matched only by his attention to detail and generosity. It would be a hard task, indeed, to name a colleague who wears such significant achievements with more authentic grace and humility than Michael.”