News and Events

Faculty/Staff Notes

Rebecca Carson of St. Louis, MO, has been selected to be the new managing director of the Pepperdine Center for the Arts. She was chosen from a field of nearly 100 applicants from across the country, and assumes her duties at Pepperdine on October 15, 2007.

Carson replaces Marnie D. Mitze, who held the position from 1992 until August 2007, when she was named associate vice president and chief of staff at Pepperdine.

Carson was most recently director of performing arts at COCA (Center of Creative Arts) in St. Louis. From 1999 to 2007, she supervised artistic and logistical aspects of hundreds of performances at COCA, a multidisciplinary community arts center.

She earned a bachelor of arts degree in theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1996, and a master of fine arts degree in theatre management from the University of Maryland in 1999.

Before moving to St. Louis, Carson served as acting theatre manager for the University of Maryland and had worked with other recognized theatre organizations, including Arena Stage, Young Audiences of Maryland, and Waukesha Civic Theatre.

In 2002 she was selected as one of the top 20 young leaders in the country by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.

At Pepperdine, Carson will be responsible for the programming and operations of the Center for the Arts, including managing a staff of 10 and presenting over 300 public performances each year with an annual operating budget of just over $2 million.

The Center's facilities include the 500-seat Smothers Theatre, 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, 99-seat Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and 3,000-square-foot Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

Carson will also work actively in fundraising for the Center's operations, including overseeing the single largest volunteer group at Pepperdine, the Center for the Arts Guild. Annually the Guild contributes almost $200,000 to the Center and brings nearly 10,000 schoolchildren to Pepperdine as part of its ARTSReach program, which provides, free of charge, around 20 performance experiences and several museum tours each season.

"I am thrilled for the opportunity to manage this thriving, dynamic arts center at such a prestigious university. I look forward to collaborating with all members of the Pepperdine community," Carson said.