Meet Hank Rion, Recipient of VSU’s 2026 Presidential Excellence Award for Research

Hank Rion has earned the 2026 Presidential Excellence Award for Research at Valdosta State University. He joined the faculty of VSU’s College of the Arts in 2021. He was recently awarded tenure and promoted to professor of theatre with the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Media. He also serves as artistic director of Peach State Summer Theatre. He is pictured with Dr. Donald J. Green, president of VSU.

VALDOSTA — Dr. Donald J. Green, president of Valdosta State University, has honored Hank Rion with the 2026 Presidential Excellence Award for Research.

The Presidential Excellence Award for Research recognizes a faculty member with a strong record of creative scholarship.

Rion joined the faculty of VSU’s College of the Arts in 2021. He was recently awarded tenure and promoted to professor of theatre with the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Media. He also serves as artistic director of Peach State Summer Theatre. His work includes teaching acting and directing, mentoring students, directing productions, and continuing his own creative scholarship as a playwright and theatre artist.

VSU: What are your favorite classes to teach and your favorite topics to research?

Rion: I love teaching acting and directing because both allow me to work very closely with students as they discover their own artistic voices. There is something incredibly rewarding about watching a student take a risk, make a discovery, and suddenly see what is possible in their work.

My research is primarily creative scholarship, particularly playwriting and directing. I am interested in telling stories that explore family, identity, memory, relationships, and the ways our past continues to shape who we become. I am especially drawn to stories rooted in the South and to finding the universal within very specific people and places.

VSU: Why do you believe it is important for faculty to conduct research and contribute new knowledge to their fields?

Rion: For me, research and teaching are inseparable. As artists and educators, I think it is important that we continue to practice the very things we are asking our students to pursue. When I am writing a new play, working with professional artists, directing a production, or participating in a reading or workshop, I am continually learning. I bring those experiences directly back into the classroom.

Research also keeps us curious. It reminds us that our education does not end when we earn a degree or accept a faculty position. We should continue asking questions, taking risks, creating new work, and contributing to the ongoing conversation in our fields.

VSU: How many publications, presentations, and other scholarship have you completed? What drives you to find time outside of teaching, mentoring, and serving the university to conduct this research? 

Rion: Over the course of my career, I have directed more than 100 plays/musicals, and I have received readings, workshops, presentations of my original works as a playwright. My original plays have been recognized through national and international competitions and have received professional readings and workshops, including work in New York City and at theatres around the country.

What drives me is that I genuinely love the work. Writing and directing are not simply requirements of my academic position; they are an essential part of who I am as an artist. The process can certainly be difficult, and finding the time is always a challenge, but there is something exciting about beginning with an idea and eventually seeing actors bring those words to life.

I also think continuing to work professionally makes me a better teacher. I can talk to students about rejection, revision, collaboration, deadlines, auditions, readings, and professional expectations because I am experiencing those things alongside them.

VSU: What advice do you have for other faculty who wish to get more involved in research?

Rion: Start with something you are genuinely curious or passionate about. Research should not feel like something you are simply checking off a list. Find the question, subject, or creative project that keeps pulling you back.

I would also say not to wait for the perfect amount of time, because it probably will never appear. Sometimes the work happens in small pieces between classes, meetings, rehearsals, and everything else we do. Those pieces eventually become something much larger.

And perhaps most importantly, allow yourself to take risks and fail. Not every project will succeed, every article will be accepted, or every play will receive a production. That is part of the process. The important thing is to remain curious, keep creating, and keep putting the work into the world.