DATE: January 08, 2009
CONTACT:
Richard Goodstein, 864-656-3043
regst@clemson.edu
CONTACT:
John Bald
John.bald@converse.edu
WRITER:
Glenn Hare, 864-656-1478
ghare@clemson.edu
South Carolina Theatre Association names Charney Outstanding Educator of the Year
CLEMSON — The South Carolina Theatre Association has named Clemson University performing arts professor Mark Charney its 2008 Outstanding Educator of the Year.
Charney, the director of theater in the performing arts department, has directed numerous Clemson Players productions since coming to the university in 1987. He has taught classes on the post-contemporary novel, dramas, directors, playwrighting and screenwriting and text analysis and character analysis.
“I can think of no one more deserving of this award,” said Converse College theater professor and association board member John Bald.
Charney has written several original plays, among them the award-winning “The Decameron Project,” which was presented by the Clemson Players at the 2006 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and his male “dysfunction” trilogy comprised of “37 Stones or the Man Who Was a Quarry,” “Double Hernia” and “Auto Immunity.” He has served at the regional and national level of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; as the artistic director of the WordBRIDGE, an organization that fosters the development of student playwrights; and as a reader and administrator at the O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwright’s Conference.
“Mark is most deserving of this prestigious award,” said Rick Goodstein, the head of the performing arts department. “He approaches his work at the local, regional and national levels with tremendous energy and enthusiasm with a goal to educate and inspire students at Clemson University. Mark exemplifies the department’s goal of educating our students with nationally recognized teacher-artists, and we are very proud of his accomplishment.”
Charney is the recipient of both the Brass and Gold medallions of honor for his work with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival as well as the Clemson University’s Frank A. Burtner Award for Excellence in Advising, the Gentry Award for Distinguished Teaching in the Humanities and the Thomas Green Clemson Award for Excellence.
The South Carolina Theatre Association is a statewide organization comprised of professional and amateur actors, directors, theater administrators and educators from primary and secondary schools and colleges.
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