UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
Professor of Stage and Screen Arts
member of graduate faculty
Start Year: 2018
Email: dean.yohnk@uwrf.edu
Dean Yohnk
Dean Yohnk, Ph.D., joined the Music and Stage and Screen Arts Department as a tenured professor in 2023 after serving as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UW-River Falls since 2018. During his 30-year career as a college dean, department chair, theatre educator and artist, Yohnk has served at Viterbo University, UW-Parkside, UW-Barron County, and UW-Superior.
A first-generation college student from Cornell, Wis., Yohnk has earned degrees with high honors from Bowling Green State University and Viterbo University, as well as a post-doctoral certification in higher education leadership from Harvard University. He has been active as a professional theatre director, actor, and educator and has worked at such nationally known theatres as The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and The Guthrie Theatre. He has directed over 150 professional and collegiate theatre, music theatre, opera, and multimedia productions during his career.
Yohnk has also been an active member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Arts Wisconsin, and is the Past President of the Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education and the Wisconsin Council of Theatre Chairs. He has been active with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for 30 years and has served on the KCACTF Regional and National Committees and as the Wisconsin Chair of KCACTF. He was the National New Play Representative on the KCACTF National Committee for five years and is enthusiastic about creating new theatre, film, and multimedia productions. In 2011, Yohnk was awarded the Kennedy Center’s prestigious gold medallion for outstanding contributions to collegiate theatre in America.