About the Provost

The provost is a tenured member of the UCSD faculty who serves as chief executive officer of the college. The provost is responsible for developing college curriculum, evaluating faculty for promotion, and overseeing all aspects of college life. The provost provides leadership for Warren College at UCSD as well as in the community, and serves as a link to college alumni around the nation.

The provost of Warren College is Steven Adler, from the Department of Theatre and Dance. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he majored in theatre at the State University of New York at Buffalo and attended graduate school at Penn State, where he studied directing. Prior to his arrival at UCSD in 1987, he stage managed the Broadway productions of Dance a Little Closer, Camelot with Richard Harris, the Tony Award-winning Big River, and numerous national tours and productions at leading regional and Off-Broadway theatres. At La Jolla Playhouse, the regional theatre that resides on campus at UCSD, he served as production stage manager for many productions, including the original cast of the Tectonic Theater Project's groundbreaking production of The Laramie Project and the recent two-play political cycle Continental Divide.

Professor Adler created a graduate program in stage management that is considered one of the finest in the nation. Graduate and undergraduate alumni are working in some of the most prestigious theatres and film studios in America. He teaches popular undergraduate courses in acting, directing, American musical theatre, and the films of Woody Allen, and frequently directs productions with undergraduates.

His research focuses on the artistic and economic forces that shape the way theatre is conceived and produced. His first book was Rough Magic: Making Theatre at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and his latest book is On Broadway: Art and Commerce on the Great White Way. He has received grants to study both theatre management and traditional theatre forms in Japan. He is an avid reader (favorite authors include Emile Zola, Thomas Hardy, David Lodge, John le Carre, Richard Russo, Peter Robinson, and Alan Furst) and an equally avid New York Mets and Penn State football fan.