Sharon Ott is the Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Houston where she also serves as the Executive Director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival. Before coming to UH she was the Chair of the Dept. of Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University and prior to that was a Professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She has directed at major theatres across the US, including the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Public Theatre, the Huntington Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Mark Taper Forum, Ford’s Theatre, Arena Stage and many others. Her directing work has received many awards, including several Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Award, Hollywood Dramalogue Awards, the Elliot Norton Award, Seattle Footlight Awards, and an Obie Award (with Theatre X- Milwaukee for A FIERCE LONGING). She accepted the Tony Award for Berkeley Rep as Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1998. She has also directed operas at Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera, and Opera Colorado. Her directing work in academic theatre has twice received citations for Outstanding Direction by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (for FAHRENHEIT 451 at Savannah College of Art and Design) and SHE KILLS MONSTERS : VIRTUAL WORLDS (with Dorie Barton and Wes Seals) at VCU. She was a long time Executive Board Member of SDC and received the President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Union in 2019. She is currently the President of the National Theatre Conference.