Kazimierz Braun – Professor Emeritus – Director, writer, playwright, scholar, educator, born June 29, 1936 in Mokrsko Dolne, Province of Kielce, Poland. MA in Literature at Poznan University, 1958; MFA in Directing at Warsaw Theater Academy, Ph. D. at Poznan University, 1971; Ph. D. in Theater (in Poland “habilitacja”) at Wroclaw University, 1975; Ph. D. in Directing (in Poland “habilitacja”) at Warsaw Theater Academy, 1988. From 1961 he was director in professional theaters and television in Poland; Artistic Director and General Manager of Teatr Osterwy in Lublin, 1967-1974; and Artistic Director and General Manager of the Teatr Wspólczesny (the Contemporary Theater) in Wroclaw, 1975-1984. He was associate professor at Wroclaw University and at School of Drama Kraków/Wroclaw, 1975-1985. Since 1985 he taught in the USA at New York University, Swarthmore College, University of California Santa Cruz, and State University of New York at Buffalo; there, he was Head of Acting Program in 1986-89 and in 1989 was appointed full professor with tenure. He was named full professor (a state title in Poland) by the President of Poland in 1992 (based on his promotion in 1984 denied to him by the Communist authorities). He has taught acting, directing, and theater history and theory. He directed more than 150 productions in theater and television, in Poland, Ireland, Germany, and the USA in The Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, The Odyssey Theater, Los Angeles, McCarther Theater, Princeton, The Kavinoky Theater, Buffalo, and others. He published 40 books on theater history, novels, plays, short stories, and poetry, including A History of Polish Theater, 1939-1989, Spears of Captivity and Freedom, Greenwood Press, 1996; he also published more than 300 scholarly articles and reviews in Polish, English, French, and Italian. He was recipient of awards at the international theater festivals in Spain, 1979, Germany, 1981; Japanese Foundation Award, 1981; the Guggenhein Foundation Award, 1990; outstanding production Artie Award, 1996; The Fulbright Award, 2001, and others. He is member of the PEN Club, International Theater Institute, International Federation for Theater Research, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, Polish Actors Union, and Polish Writers Association.