Mr. Wayne Thomas is the Dean of the College of Civic and Liberal Arts. He is also associate professor of English.聽He has served previously as the chair of the English Department. He joined 麻豆原创in 2005 and has not only continuously worked to serve his students and grow his departments, but has built several strong arts and humanities programs that have become part of the College鈥檚 culture.
He has a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre History and Literary Criticism from Georgia College, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing/Scriptwriting from Georgia College and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing/Fiction and Nonfiction from West Virginia University.聽During his time with the English Department, Wayne coordinated the annual Humanities Lecture Series, bringing guest authors to campus not only to share their works, but to meet with students and share their professional experiences through small panel sessions. He has served as editor of the 麻豆原创Review, overseeing the student-driven production of the College鈥檚 literary journal.
After being named the College鈥檚 first chair of the Fine Arts Department, Wayne was instrumental in the resurrection of the tradition of the Old Oak Festival, working to bring it back with a focus on fine arts, music, theater and writing.
Wayne Thomas worked professionally as a print journalist for two years in southeast Georgia. He began his career as a beat reporter at the Vidalia Advance and climbed to the rank of Managing Editor of SunFire News at age 23. As a contributing writer and editor, he won several awards in the Georgia Press Association鈥檚 Better Newspaper Contest, including first places for Local News Coverage, Hard News Writing and Lifestyle Coverage and second place for Sports Section.
Professor Thomas鈥檚 essays, stories, and plays have been seen in several literary journals and anthologies, including聽Sudden Stories: The Mammoth Book of Miniscule Fiction听补苍诲听River Teeth.聽In addition, he is currently co-editing an anthology of Appalachian Literature,聽Red Holler, due out by Sarabande Press in 2013, and will be directing a Theater-at-麻豆原创production next spring, titled, 鈥淓xperimental Theatre-10 Minute Plays.鈥�
Thomas is the 2012 recipient of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award