ATHE returns to its origins in Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton to host its 25th Anniversary Conference: "Performance Remains, Global Presence: Memory, Legacy and Imagined Futures." The keynote performance is provided by Split Britches, Lois Weaver and Peggy Shaw, with a paid performance by Reverend Billy.

The "global" presence is highlighted in the all-conference plenary on "Interdisciplinarity in Global Contexts," featuring Pascal Lecoq, Miguel Rubio Rubio, Mshai Mwangola, and Marin Blazevic from three continents. The all-conference breakouts focus on "Interdisciplinarity in Local Contexts," collaborative sessions focusing on applications in local contexts. Vice Presidents for Conference are Josh Abrams and Gwendolyn Alker. The fourth all-conference "elephant in the room" plenary, "ATHE @ 25: What’s Next," features a panel of ATHE’s past presidents.

A Task Force from the Professional Development Committee revises the "Guidelines for Tenure and Promotion" and distributes the publication to all members at the conference.

The ATHE Career Achievement Award in Professional Theatre is now renamed the Ellen Stewart Career Achievement Award in Professional Theatre in honor of the late founder of LaMaMa, ETC

Bill Doan takes over as ATHE President at the end of the conference after chairing the committee to create ATHE’s fifth Strategic Plan for 2011-2015.

AWARDS: Dennis Zacek (Career Achievement in Professional Theatre), William Esper (Career Achievement in Academic Theatre) and ATHE Past President Jill Dolan (Outstanding Teacher of Theatre in Higher Education)

PHOTO: Outgoing ATHE President Steve Peters (l) and incoming President Bill Doan