Jacqueline Bixler Named Director of the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech

Jacqueline Bixler, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Spanish at Virginia Tech, has been appointed director of the university’s School of Performing Arts. Professor Bixler, who served as chair of the department of modern and classical languages and literatures from 2012 to 2018, is an internationally recognized scholar of contemporary Latin American theatre, with a focus on Mexican performance art.

Dr. Bixler has authored books and edited volumes on Mexican playwrights Emilio Carballido, Sabina Berman, and Víctor Hugo Rascón Banda, as well as Mexico’s women playwrights and performance. She currently serves as editor of the Latin American Theatre Review, a journal devoted to the study and dissemination of Latin American and Latinx theatre.

“The best reward of all,” Professor Bixler said, “has been the passion for Mexican culture and for teaching Spanish that I was able to instill in the many students who went with me to Mexico between 2002 and 2010.” In her new role as director of the School of Performing Arts, she added, “I can think of few disciplines in which this kind of direct, personal impact on students is stronger than the performing arts.”

Dr. Bixler joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1980. She is a graduate of Ohio University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.