Pace University’s Actors Studio Drama School Announces New Program Chair

MFA program enters a new phase of growth and inspired teaching and learning

NEW YORK, N.Y., July 21, 2020 – After fourteen years of excellent service and leadership by Andreas Manolikakis, Pace University announced that Professor Ion Cosmin Chivu has been appointed the new program chair of the Actors Studio Drama School Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, effective July 1, 2020.

“We are pleased to have Professor Chivu at the helm of the Actors Studio Drama School (ASDS). As a member of the Actors Studio and longtime faculty member of the Pace School of Performing Arts at Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, he brings vast experience to this leadership position that includes his successful career as a director in the theater world. We are looking forward to his innovative ideas for teaching and learning that will inspire ASDS students and faculty alike,” said Richard B. Schlesinger, interim dean, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences.

A tenured associate professor since 2016, Chivu joined the Pace faculty in 2011 as a tenure-track assistant professor in what is now the Pace School of Performing Arts (PPA) with a mandate to create Bachelor of Arts programs in Acting and Directing that would be combined to create an International Performance Ensemble program. He has served as director of this successful program since its inception. A lifetime member of the Actors Studio and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Chivu has completed Artist Residency programs with the Drama League, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, and is the founder of InterArt Theatre Group.

Recognized as a vital force in the theater world, Chivu has received multiple awards for his work. He has directed numerous professional and university productions in America, Austria, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Thailand. His production of “The Mutilated” by Tennessee Williams was nominated for the 2014 Drama League Award in the Best Revival category and was a New York Times and Time Out critics’ pick. Other projects include directing “Beautiful Province” by Clarence Coo, winner of the 2012 Yale New Drama Series, presented at Lincoln Center Theater 3; Irwin Shaw's “Bury the Dead” at HERE Arts Center and at the 2014 Sibiu International Festival; and “Something Cloudy, Something Clear” by Tennessee Williams, produced by the Provincetown TW Festival. In America, Chivu has directed more than 30 plays in New York City (Lincoln Center, Cherry Lane, The Actors Studio, HERE Arts Center, UBU Rep, The Players), Massachusetts (The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, Ko Festival), California, and New Jersey.

Chivu has received the Pace International Outstanding Faculty Award recognizing his commitment to internationalizing the curriculum and has been granted Kenan Funding for Faculty Development. He has sponsored and mentored students participating in the Annual Meeting of the Society of Fellows of Dyson College and the Dyson Summer Undergraduate research program, as well as supervising students working on their Honors Theses. He has overseen the PPA Masters Series at Schimmel Center, which brings well-established actors, writers, directors, designers, and theater professionals to Pace to share their craft and invaluable perspectives on the creative process.

Chivu holds a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Theater Arts from the G. Enescu Art Academy, in Iasi, Romania, and a Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Arts/Directing at the Actors Studio Drama School, then at the New School.

“We want to thank Andreas Manolikakis, who has served as program chair for the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace since the program’s inception in Dyson College in 2006. He has been the steward of the program’s mission and maintained its close connection to The Actors Studio. Please join us in thanking him for his many years of service to ASDS,” said Schlesinger.

About the Actors Studio Drama School, MFA Program: Housed within the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences at Pace University, and the only MFA program created and sanctioned by the Actors Studio, the School offers the authenticity, continuity, and authority of the Stanislavski System and the Method. A fundamental principle of the Stanislavski System and the work of the Actors Studio is to help the artist to discover, liberate, and disclose his or her individual expression. The School provides the special conditions that allow the student-artist to feel safe, to trust, to take risks, and to grow, as delivered through its unique curriculum, superb faculty, and excellent facilities.

About Dyson College: Pace University’s liberal arts college, Dyson College offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as many courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.

About Pace University

Pace University has a proud history of preparing its diverse student body for a lifetime of professional success as a result of its unique program that combines rigorous academics and real-world experiences. Pace is ranked the #1 private, four-year college in the nation for upward economic mobility by Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights, evidence of the transformative education the University provides. From its beginnings as an accounting school in 1906, Pace has grown to three campuses, enrolling 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in more than 150 majors and programs, across a range of disciplines: arts, sciences, business, health care, technology, law, education, and more. The university also has one of the most competitive performing arts programs in the country. Pace has a signature, newly renovated campus in New York City, located in the heart of vibrant Lower Manhattan, next to Wall Street and City Hall, and two campuses in Westchester County, New York: a 200-acre picturesque Pleasantville Campus and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains. Follow us on Twitter or on the Pace News website.