Playwright David Auburn named College’s Class Day speaker

2026 Class Day Speaker

David Auburn, AB’91, is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and director. His plays include Summer 1976, The Adventures of Augie March, Lost Lake, The Columnist, and Proof. Film work includes The Girl in the Park (writer/director), Georgetown, Proof, and The Lake House. He is Associate Artistic Director at the Berkshire Theatre Group, where he has directed many productions. Other directing credits include Long Day’s Journey into Night (Court, Chicago) and the Off-Broadway world premiere of Michael Weller’s Side Effects. He teaches screenwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a former Guggenheim Fellow.

The UChicago alum will kick off Convocation weekend with a June 5 address to undergraduates on navigating “radical uncertainty.” Learn more →