A member of the Furman University faculty since 2010, Professor Maegan McNerney Azar is Furman’s 2020 SCICU Excellence In Teaching award winner. She chairs Furman’s theatre arts department and serves as associate professor of acting & directing. Azar earned an MFA in acting pedagogy from The University of Alabama and a B.S. in theatre from East Tennessee State University.

At Furman, Azar’s course load includes Foundations of Acting, Characterization & Storytelling, Voice, Period Styles, Movement, First Year Writing Seminars titled adapting the Classics and Quest for Meanings & Values through Theatre, and the theatre department’s capstone Senior Synthesis course.

In addition to her traditional teaching load, Azar directs a show each year for the Furman Theatre Main Stage season. Previous year’s productions include The Threepenny Opera, Hair, The Winter’s Tale, Pippin, and John Proctor is the Villain. She is the faculty sponsor for two student theatre organizations that champion student-produced work.

Azar is well-known for her student mentoring and advising. She regularly prepares students to attend conferences, design competitions, and auditions while traveling alongside them. She has developed partnerships with the Accademia dell’Arte, National Theater Institute, Double Edge Theatre, and The Farm Theater to provide Furman students with alternative learning opportunities. She served as a pilot advisor to a new first- and second-year advising program, and facilitated creation of the Research Fellowship in Theatrical Production as part of The Furman Advantage.

Azar currently serves as president of the Southeastern Theatre Conference and is a past president of the South Carolina Theatre Association. Her acting and directing work can regularly be seen at The Warehouse Theatre, Centre Stage South Carolina, and Lean Ensemble Theater.