Tony Award-winning director and former Steppenwolf Theatre head Anna D. Shapiro has been tapped to lead Juilliard’s acting program.
Shapiro has been named the next Richard Rodgers dean and director of the drama division at the prestigious school, taking over starting in July 2027. She succeeds Evan Yionoulis, who ended her tenure at the end of the 2026 academic year to become the new dean of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
Shapiro comes to the role after serving on the faculty of Northwestern University since 2002, where she leads the graduate directing program.
She also served as the artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago from 2015 to 2021. She has directed several Broadway productions, including winning the 2008 Tony Award for August: Osage County, and earning a Tony nomination for The Motherf**ker with the Hat. Her Broadway directing credits also include last season’s Eureka Day, Of Mice and Men, Fish in the Dark, The Minutes and This Is Our Youth.
Shapiro is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Columbia College. She most recently directed Eric Bentley’s Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, which ended its run at New York City Center earlier this month.
