Zimmerman Named Jaharis Family Professor

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Mary Zimmerman, professor of performance studies in the Northwestern University School of Communication, has been named the Jaharis Family Professor.

A member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company and artistic associate of the Goodman Theatre, Zimmerman's play "Metamorpheses" traveled from Chicago to off-Broadway to Broadway, earning her a Tony Award for Best Direction in 2002.

She was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship (1998), Northwestern University Alumnae Award from The Graduate School (2006), Drama Critics Award (2001), Joseph Jefferson Award (2000), Obie Award (2002) and Drama Desk Award (2002).

Zimmerman has authored, adapted or directed numerous projects including "Journey to the West," "Arabian Nights," "Eleven Rooms of Proust," "The Odyssey," "Measure for Measure," "Akenaten," "Trojan Women, "Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci," "The Secret in the Wings," and "Pericles."

She is the director and co-librettist of the 2002 opera "Galileo Galilei" at the Goodman Theatre and was invited to direct two operas ("Lucia di Lammermoor" in 2007 and "Armida" in 2008) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Zimmerman joined Northwestern's faculty in 1987 after receiving a bachelor's, masters and Ph.D. from the University.