William Wheeler

Focus and Philosophy: Mr. Wheeler believes students learn best through experience, and theatre provides an ideal environment for experiential learning, creative problem-solving, and collaboration. As a lighting designer and educator, he strives to create a safe and supportive environment where students feel comfortable asking questions, taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from their challenges.   He believes learning from one’s mistakes can be a valuable teaching tool when students are encouraged to reflect, adapt, and try again, while still being held to high expectations. He emphasizes communication, respect, teamwork, and the ability to respond thoughtfully to the unexpected realities of the production process. Ultimately, his goal is to mentor students toward becoming confident, independent artists and problem-solvers who are willing to experiment, learn from both success and challenges, and develop their own creative voices.

Background: Mr. Wheeler has been involved in theatre and live performance since elementary school.  He was active in theatrical and choral performances through undergraduate school, at Lynchburg College. He received an M.F.A in lighting design and technical direction from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1995.

Teaching and Leadership: At Radford University, Mr. Wheeler has serves as a Professor of Theatre and Cinema, specializing in technical production and lighting design.  He also serves as the production manager for all Department of Theatre and Cinema productions.  Prior to joining the faculty at Radford, he taught at Vanderbilt University.  

Research/Scholarship/Creative Work: As a professional lighting designer, Mr. Wheeler has designed lights for Mill Mountain Theatre and Virginia Children’s Theatre.  He has been professionally active with the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, USITT, where he was a member of the conference committee for 15 years.

Mr. Wheeler has multiple presentation credits at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) and USITT.  Mr. Wheeler has been published in the SETC Southern Theatre Magazine and his article, Star Drop: Create an LED Night Sky for under $600, was included in the SETC published book, Outside the Box: 25 Design-Tech Strategies to Save you Time and Money.

For more information about David Wheeler, please open the tabs below. If you would like a digital copy of his complete CV, please contact him at dwheeler@radford.edu.