Jennifer Schlueter

Jennifer Schlueter, PhD is the new Dean and Director at Ohio State Marion. In her career as an academic administrator, teacher, performance maker, and producer, she has worked across the country and internationally. Most recently, she was the vice provost of academic affairs at The New School in New York City, where she was also an associate professor of practice in its School of Drama.

Prior to joining The New School, Dr. Schlueter held leadership roles at Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD), serving as the college’s inaugural dean of graduate studies before becoming associate provost and dean of academics. There, she drove strategic development and transformation of undergraduate and graduate degrees across shared curricular models, as well as youth, adult enrichment, and career development programs. Throughout this work, she highlighted the ways art and design skills are instrumental to commerce, justice, and a life well lived.

In leading Ohio State Marion, Dr. Schlueter returns familiar ground. Before her time at CCAD, she was part of the Ohio State faculty for nine years in the Department of Theatre (currently the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts). There she served as director of undergraduate studies and associate chair, and also took on university-level leadership roles as a faculty fellow of curriculum development at the Graduate School and as project director of the Global Arts & Humanities Discovery Theme. She founded and produced the Lab Series, a student-driven, department-nurtured performance series that supported over 100 new works during her tenure. She also earned OSU’s Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor award, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Ronald and Deborah Ratner Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Graduate Assistant Teaching Award. Her first tenure track role was at the University of Oregon.

Dr. Schlueter is a director, deviser, writer, and producer, and has seen her work produced at venues like Little Theatre (Seattle), Cleveland Public Theatre, American Theater Company (Chicago), Kranzberg Center (St. Louis), Wexner Center for the Arts, 59E59 (New York), Tristan Bates (London), and on BBC Radio 4. Her scholarship has been published in leading journals including TDR, Theatre Journal, and Theatre Survey. She was named an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award winner in 2019.

Proudly educated in state universities, Dr. Schlueter earned her PhD and her master’s degree in theatre from Ohio State. Her Bachelor of Arts is in theatre from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. And the same skills that she honed as a performance maker—in collaboration and in storytelling, as well as in a commitment to wonder, delight, and joy—ground her approach as an academic leader.