Joseph Jefferson Award-winning lighting and scenic designer John Culbert has been named dean of The Theatre School (TTS), DePaul University, becoming the third person to lead the prestigious conservatory since it took residence at DePaul in 1978. The school was founded in 1925 as the renowned Goodman School of Drama.

Culbert, 46, was selected from a national pool of distinguished candidates. A member of the school’s faculty for 13 years, Culbert had served as acting dean since last summer, succeeding the late Michael Maggio. He will assume the deanship July 1.

“As acting dean, John was not simply a caretaker, but decisive in steering the school in a bold new direction that is more directly involved in Chicago’s dynamic theatre community,” said Richard J. Meister, executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “We felt his presence as a university officer and dean. He already has made valuable contributions to DePaul.”

TTS is the Midwest’s oldest theatre conservatory and is recognized nationally as one of the top programs in the United States. It emphasizes learning-by-doing in a format that is intensive, highly disciplined and focused on individual development. Admission to the undergraduate acting program is very selective, and just seven percent of those who applied last year were accepted.

“The school is ideally situated to provide a bridge between the professional community and the training program,” Culbert said. “This integration is a national trend in theatre conservatories, and we are poised to be a leader in this arena, forging links that benefit both students and the profession.”

TTS provides a foundation that supports the vibrant Chicago theatre scene and feeds the profession at the national level. Alumni can be found on stage and behind the curtains of many top Chicago theatres, and they appear regularly in film, television and theatres around the globe. Culbert hopes to expand the opportunities for interconnections with Chicago’s professional theatre community.

“I plan to continue the school’s 75-year tradition of educating, training and inspiring students in a conservatory setting that is rigorous, disciplined, culturally diverse and strives for the highest level of professional skill and artistry,” he said.

New and improved facilities top his agenda. “I will support new facilities that reflect the flagship conservatory status of the school, provide state of the art training opportunities and performance venues, and enable us to challenge, entertain and stimulate the imagination of the university community, our city and the profession,” he said. Currently, the school produces more than 200 public performances each season at the Merle Reskin Theatre, formerly the historic Blackstone Theatre, on the Loop Campus. The conservatory’s academic departments are headquartered in Lincoln Park.

Culbert has been a member of the DePaul community since 1988, when he joined the faculty as an assistant professor and head of the Lighting Design program. In 1992, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure, and he chaired the Design/Tech program from 1992 to 1998. He was promoted to full professor in 1995.

Culbert led TTS through a difficult year following Maggio’s death, not only by implementing and expanding the school’s strategic plan, but by restructuring its administrative organization to lay a solid foundation for the 21st century.

Culbert likens his administrative leadership style to that of the theatre process. “I work from a base of strategic planning—the script—collaboratively setting priorities and goals—the production concept—and then assigning resources accordingly,” he said. “As in any artistic endeavor, the primary requirement for successful creative activity is an atmosphere of respect and trust.”

A respected teacher and effective administrator, Culbert also is an accomplished lighting and scenic designer and an active professional. In Chicago, he has designed scenery or lighting for the Buckingham Fountain, Garfield Conservatory, Chicago Park District, Field Museum of Natural History, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Chicago Opera Theatre and more than 20 productions at the Court Theatre, where he is a Resident Artist.

At the Court Theatre, he received several Joseph Jefferson nominations and a Jeff Award for “The Triumph of Love.” He designed scenery for its current production of “Piano.” Recent Chicago productions include “Akhnaten” for Chicago Opera Theatre, “Boy Gets Girl” for the Goodman Theatre, “The Learned Ladies” for Court Theatre and “Eleven Rooms of Proust” for Lookingglass Theatre.

Additional examples of Culbert’s scenery and lighting expertise have been showcased at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Boston Lyric Opera, Colorado Opera Festival, Baton Rouge Opera, Southern Repertory, Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse 91 and Bristol Riverside Theatre. At TTS he has designed productions of “The Misanthrope,” “Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Rose Tattoo,” “The Women,” “The Snow Queen,” “Rip Van Winkle” and “Stage Door.”

Prior to DePaul, Culbert held faculty positions at Louisiana State University and the University of Arizona. He earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies from Ohio University, where he combined studies in theatre, studio arts and physics. He holds an MFA from New York University.