Applause! New Scholarship Endowment for UNCG Theatre

The saying "All the world's a stage" rings particularly true for UNC Greensboro alumnus Gavin J. Smith '82 MFA. Smith credits three years at UNCG earning his master's in theatre design and technical production with launching his multi-decade career in the entertainment industry.

To acknowledge his education and the professional success that followed, Smith and his wife, Mary Mertz-Smith, established the Gavin J. Smith and Mary C. Mertz-Smith Scholarship Endowment in Theatre Design and Technical Production with a planned gift to UNCG's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

"The outstanding faculty and abundance of opportunities available to students in the Theatre Department allowed me to receive a learning experience like nowhere else in the country," he says. "I toured for one season as the technical director for UNCG's Theatre for Young People, two seasons with the UNCG repertory company, and one season as technical director at the Parkway Playhouse."

Those outstanding experiences, as well as numerous off-campus opportunities available in Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad, prepared Smith well for his future.

Upon graduation from UNCG and propelled by a wealth of knowledge, Smith enjoyed a season touring across the United States as technical director with The Acting Company. At the season's end, he was hired as the technical director for a new three-theatre performing arts center in Jackson, Michigan, and two years later began a two-decade career at Michigan State University.

While at MSU, Smith began a lifelong partnership with his wife. Mertz-Smith's distinguished career at MSU included PAC box office manager and upper-level positions with the vice president for Governmental Affairs and the College of Engineering. Smith's own career culminated as director of the Charlotte (Mich.) Performing Arts Center.

The couple's gift supports the University's Light the Way Campaign pillar of "access" by providing financial resources for full-time graduate students majoring in drama with a concentration in theatre design and technical production.

"This gift will provide graduate students in theatre design and technology the opportunity to focus on honing their craft and growing as theatre artists rather than being concerned about their accumulation of debt," says UNCG School of Theatre Director Natalie Sowell. "Recruitment of people returning to school after time in the industry will be easier because we can provide another level of support. We're so proud of our alumni and very grateful for this gift - the fact that Gavin and Mary chose to give back speaks volumes about the education we offer at UNCG."

Their bequest also qualifies the couple for membership in the Unbroken Band Society, UNCG's special family of donors whose investments strengthen the University for the future.

This gift is part of UNCG's Light the Way: The Campaign for Earned Achievement, which seeks to raise $200 million to increase access, elevate academic excellence, and enhance the tremendous impact of UNCG's programs. Visit lighttheway.uncg.edu for additional information.