Established in 1975 and presented by the Office for the Arts (OFA) and the Harvard Board of Overseers, the Harvard Arts Medal honors a distinguished Harvard or Radcliffe graduate or faculty member who has achieved excellence in the arts and made a significant contribution through their work.
“In honoring Bill Rauch, we recognize his immeasurable contributions to American theater and his lifelong commitment to building a more inclusive arts ecosystem,” said OFA Director Fiona Coffey. “From co-founding the community-centered Cornerstone Theater, to his visionary leadership of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to his current groundbreaking role as the inaugural artistic director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center in New York, Bill has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape — first as an undergraduate at Harvard, and ever since as a pioneering artistic leader, tastemaker, and visionary force.”
Rauch is currently the inaugural artistic director of Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC), where he co-directed last season’s “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which opens on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre this spring. His work as a theater director has been seen across the nation, from community centers to Broadway, including the Tony Award-winning production of Robert Schenkkan’s “All the Way” and its sequel, “The Great Society.”
From 2007 to 2019, Rauch was artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the country’s oldest and largest rotating repertory theater, where he directed seven world premieres and 20 other plays, including Shakespeare and a queer re-envisioning of “Oklahoma!”
Rauch co-founded Cornerstone Theater Company in 1986 with Alison Carey ’82, and served as artistic director until 2006, directing more than 40 productions. The productions were often staged in unique locations, including a cattle auction barn in Oregon, an abandoned high school in rural Kansas, and a Los Angeles shopping mall.
He has directed shows at many of the country’s largest regional theaters, including Lincoln Center Theater, Signature Theatre, Center Theater Group, South Coast Repertory, Yale Repertory Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and the American Repertory Theater.
“I am humbled by this honor, which recognizes everyone who has ever taught me and collaborated with me to create a radically inclusive theater field,” Rauch said. “My years at Harvard completely shaped my life. I was able to direct a range of plays in every nook and cranny of the campus. I met so many extraordinary peers who are still among my closest colleagues and friends, as well as my husband of 41 years. Everything that I have undertaken as an artist and as an arts leader can be traced back to my days in Cambridge.”
As an undergraduate, Rauch directed 26 shows on campus including on the Loeb Mainstage, on the steps of Widener Library and in the Adams House basement. In his senior year, Rauch was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for outstanding artistic talent and achievement.
The 2026 Harvard Arts Medal Ceremony will be held May 3 at 4 p.m. in Farkas Hall. At the event, Rauch will be in conversation with distinguished alumni and colleagues, actor, producer and writer Amy Brenneman ’86, M.D.S. ’26, James Bundy ’81, dean of David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and artistic director of Yale Repertory Theatre, and R.J. Cutler ’83, acclaimed documentary filmmaker. The event is free and open to the public. No ticket is required.
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