Jeff Burke (far left), previously the director of technology research initiatives for UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and executive director of UCLA TFT’s Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP), has been appointed to the newly created position of assistant dean, technology and innovation.
Burke is a three-time UCLA alumnus (B.S., M.S., electrical engineering; M.F.A., film, television and digital media) who has produced, managed, programmed and designed experimental performances, short films, new genre art installations and new facility construction internationally for more than 15 years. He has been a faculty member since 2001 and today, in addition to his role developing technology and innovation strategy at UCLA TFT, he leads applications research as part of the school’s participation in the Named Data Networking project, a 12-campus effort supported by the National Science Foundation to develop a future Internet architecture.
In 2004, Burke co-founded REMAP, a collaboration with the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, which combines research, artistic production, and community engagement.
Also, J. Ed Araiza has been named the department of theater’s head of M.F.A. acting program. Araiza has extensive experience working on multicultural and cross-disciplinary projects as a writer, director, dramaturg and performer.
For the past 20 years Araiza has been a member of New York City’s internationally acclaimed SITI Company, one of the most important experimental theater ensembles in the world. He has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; the Olympic Arts Festival in Atlanta; Los Angeles Theater Center; Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater; and the Getty Villa in Malibu.
In fall 2011, he served as a guest director in the TFT’s department of theater working with second and third year M.F.A. students on a production of The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice.
