Doug Risner ’88 BFA, ’90 MFA, ’01 PhD has a long relationship with the UNC Greensboro School of Dance.  Now, thanks to a testamentary gift, that relationship will continue long after his own lifetime.

The Doug Risner Professor of Dance Award will be administered as an endowed fund to enhance the work of the School of Dance by supporting dance faculty research, retaining high performance dance faculty, and incentivizing worthy incoming tenure-track or tenured faculty.

“I really don’t know where I would be without UNCG.  My personal and professional relationship with the dance faculty spans three decades, Dr. Jill Green, Dr. Jan Van Dyke, Dr. Sue Stinson, among others.  These faculty played pivotal roles in my life, not only what I learned from them, but also the networking, the guidance, and recommendations on my behalf.”

Dr. Risner is a Distinguished Faculty Fellow and Professor of Dance at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he is Program Director of the Master of Arts in Theatre and Dance Teaching Artistry, the first program of its kind in the nation. He conducts research on the sociology of dance training and education, curriculum theory and policy, social foundations of dance pedagogy, gender in dance, postsecondary dance leadership, online learning and web-based curriculum design.

He feels strongly about the need for faculty support and recognition:

“It was at UNCG that I learned what it meant to be a teacher, an excellent teacher, and the significance of critically questioning how I was taught and trained.”

In addition to the Professor of Dance Award, Dr. Risner has also established an endowed scholarship to provide financial support for under-represented students majoring in Dance.

“Besides getting an exceptional education from an extraordinarily talented faculty, I think any success I’ve had is due in part to the simple fact that people here believed in me.”