Brett Johnson, recipient of the 2007 Donald K. Anderson Award for Teaching Assistants

As Brett works to motivate his students, he recalls a theatre teacher of his own, Mizzou alum Dr. W. Douglas Powers, who mentored Brett as an undergraduate in Pennsylvania. It was Dr. Powers who suggested the MU graduate program to Brett, and it is he who inspires Brett as a teacher.

Dr. Powers had (and continues to have) such a profound impact on me as a teacher, director, mentor and friend. He set high standards in the classroom, allowing me to surpass my personal limitations; he nurtured my process as an actor, challenging me with a variety of demanding roles; he taught me how to facilitate my own education; and perhaps most importantly, he led by example, allowing his passion for theatre to infuse every class and every production. I hope to inspire my students in the same way.

Brett chose MU's Theatre program for his graduate degree in order to further develop his skills as and artist and a scholar. Over the past three years, he's acted in numerous main stage productions, directed a full-length play (Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre) and worked as an assistant director/choreographer for The Pedlar. This semester, he appeared as Hank in Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night, and he will play the role of Rev. John Hale in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Next semester, he will co-direct and choreograph The Irish Rogue, the final production of the main stage season.

Brett received his BA in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in performance from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., and his MA in Theatre from MU. As a doctoral student, he received the Huggins Fellowship and is a member of the National Scholars Honor Society, Association for Theatre in Higher Education and the Michael Chekhov Association. He expects to receive his doctorate in 2010.

(Story and photos by Summer Foote)