Sue Ott Rowlands

Sue Ott Rowlands was named the 11th president of Randolph College in March 2022 and assumed the office on July 1, 2022.

A professor of theatre arts in the School of the Arts at Northern Kentucky University, she also served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at NKU between January 2014 and January 2021.

Prior to her tenure at NKU, Ott Rowlands served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She also served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Toledo (Ohio). She has also served as chair of The Ohio State University’s Acting/Directing Program in the Department of Theatre, and head of the acting program at Webster University in St. Louis. Her specialty area of teaching and creative activity is acting and directing for the theatre.

Ott Rowlands is the founding artistic director of Glacity Theatre Collective in Toledo and the Cleveland Women’s Theatre Project, both professional theatres. She is the former associate artistic director of Round House Theatre in Washington, DC and managing director of The Actor’s Space in New York City. Ott Rowlands’ career has spanned higher education administration, university teaching, arts administration, and professional theatre. She continues to travel extensively as part of her ongoing efforts to establish and promote international study abroad opportunities and international arts exchanges.

As a member of Actor’s Equity Association (AEA), the professional actors’ union, Ott Rowlands has worked at theatres around the country. Her creative research agenda remains active through the development and touring of solo performance pieces. Ott Rowlands has performed in India, Taiwan, New Zealand, Italy, Chile, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Hungary (three national tours), Wales, England, the Czech Republic, and Sri Lanka.

In addition to the above-mentioned institutions of higher education, Ott Rowlands has been on the faculties of professional training programs throughout the country including Circle-in-the-Square, New York University, The Actor’s Space, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, Western Maryland College, and the Cleveland Play House. She has taught internationally and has conducted residencies at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and Victoria University (Wellington, NZ), National Taiwan University (Taipei), Chetana Theatre (Calcutta, India) and Rangayana Theatre (Mysore, India), the University of Debrecen and the University of Szeged (Hungary), and the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Ott Rowlands is a member of Phi Beta Delta, the society of international scholars.