Key Teaching Staff
Henry Grillo
School: University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA)Field of Teaching: Production Design
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Major Achievements: B.A. in Music Theory and Composition, Cornell University; M.F.A. in Theatrical Production, Carnegie Mellon University.
Mr. Grillo joined the North Carolina School of the Arts (now the University of North Carolina School of the Arts) in 1983. He has spent the majority of his career at UNCSA on the faculty of the School of Design & Production, where he served as an Assistant Dean and the Director of the Graduate Program. He was instrumental in helping achieve national recognition and commendation for that school’s formidable undergraduate and graduate programs and in growing the school’s enrollment from under 70 to over 200 students. As an instructor, he taught extensively in the technical training program, which he directed for over fifteen years. In 2004, he was awarded both the NCSA Faculty Teaching Award and the UNC Board of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. With over thirty years of teaching in higher education, he has offered comprehensive courses on graphic communication, project management, structural design, leadership development, theatre technology, and theatrical design.
In recent years, Mr. Grillo has led the faculty development effort at UNCSA, assisting faculty with their transition from the professional world to the world of education. As the Director of the Faculty Enrichment Center, he focused his attention on the use of technology in the teaching of artists, and was a staunch supporter of the institution’s efforts to redesign its courses in response to 21st century teaching and learning sensibilities.
Mr. Grillo has served as technical director and/or lighting designer for a number of residential performing companies including the University of Evansville, Carnegie Mellon Theatre Company, Cornell University Theatre, Ithaca Summer Repertory, the Hangar Theatre, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, National Black Theatre Festival, and the Winston-Salem Little Theatre. In film and television he has undertaken construction and techn
