Charles Dumas, the first Black professor to receive tenure in the School of Theatre at Pennsylvania State University, recently received the Living Legend Award at the 2022 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was honored for “significant contributions to the American theatre and to the entertainment industry.”
Professor Dumas joined the faculty at Penn State in 1995 and now holds the status of professor emeritus. He is presently a professor in residence at the African American Theatre Program at the University of Louisville. He was a Fulbright Fellow in theatre at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and he founded the camera acting program at the University of The Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Professor Dumas is also a professional writer, director, producer and Emmy Award-winning actor. He has written, directed, produced or acted in over three hundred plays. He has appeared on Broadway and in feature films. In 2012, Dumas mounted an unsuccesfull bid to be elected to the Pennsylvana House of Representatives.
Professor Dumas grew up in Chicago. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at New Paltz and Yale Law School.
