Robert Colby

Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor of Performing Arts

Bob Colby not only teaches his students how to be theatre educators, he represents the kind of educator his students want to be. After studying theatre in college, Bob worked professionally before becoming an artist-in-residence at a high school. “Working with those students, I had a number of profoundly moving experiences. I discovered that theatre could change lives.”

His work since has revolved around this potential. As a director, Bob is drawn to drama with themes of social history and justice. As an educator, he strives to make the theatre education program reach beyond schools to empower developing community groups through the vehicle of theatre.

In acknowledgement of his efforts, Bob received the 2003 Lin Wright Special Recognition Award from the American Alliance for Theatre in Education and the 2004 Leonidas A. Nickole Award for Excellence in Theatre Education from the New England Theatre Conference. Deeply influenced by faculty mentors when he was in graduate school, Bob is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and to ensuring his students’ success.