Rubén Polendo began his career in higher education as the founding director of NYU Abu Dhabi’s theater program in 2009. He later became associate dean for the campus’s Arts Center, before returning to New York City and chairing the Tisch drama department in 2016. In 2023, he took office as associate dean of the Tisch Institute of Performing Arts.
Now after 16 years at the university, Polendo has stepped up as the dean of the Tisch School of the Arts. President Linda Mills announced his appointment last month, following an 11-month, international search for the position, and he officially took on the role Aug. 15.
Polendo spoke with WSN about his time serving in teaching and leadership roles at the university, as well as his aspirations for NYU Tisch.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: What are you looking forward to as the new dean?
Polendo: One of the things that I find most exciting about my role is the joy of working with artists who will be our future colleagues. My commitment is to those future colleagues, and it is a great privilege and honor to be in conversation with them early in their trajectory, which is something that I find a lot of joy in and feel very honored to be engaged in.
Polendo assumed his position after former Tisch dean Allyson Green stepped down in May, following over a decadelong tenure. He was chosen by a search committee chaired by costume design professor Susan Hilferty comprised of faculty and administrators across schools and departments.
Prior to his leadership at the Washington Square campus, Polendo received praise for theater programming and productions at NYU Abu Dhabi. In 2011, his Brooklyn-based theater company, Theater Mitu, staged the show “Chaos” — a play about what happens to identity “when home becomes mobile” — marking New York City’s first professional theatre performance to be “conceived, rehearsed and produced” in Abu Dhabi.
During his tenure at the Abu Dhabi campus, Polendo also taught classes ranging from “Theatre in the Arab World” to “Making Theatre” — a class guiding students to create a one-person production.
WSN: How has working at NYU Abu Dhabi shaped how you approach your new role?
Polendo: I grew up on the border with the U.S. in northern Mexico, so the idea of crossing bridges and bridging distances is really part of who I am. It’s been a part of my community building and was part of my work at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Polendo’s involvement with NYU began after founding Theater Mitu with a 13-person cast in 1997, when he worked with students to produce shows such as “Hamletmachine,” inspired by text by German dramatist and poet Heiner Müller, and “The Legend of Kinaree,” a show inspired by a traditional Thai myth. The theater’s current show, “Utopian Hotline,” explores the effect of artificial intelligence on societies and has received support from the Guggenheim Foundation. In February, Polendo and Justin Nestor, Theater Mitu’s co-artistic director, led the theater to win the Obie Award for Sustained Innovation.
Mirroring his work at Theater Mitu, Polendo also spearheaded the Tisch program The Innovation Studio earlier this year, which allows advanced students to strategically incorporate advanced technologies into their work.
WSN: How do you integrate your experience at Theater Mitu with your work at NYU Tisch?
Polendo: There’s always been an integration that the company has created, whether it be internships, apprenticeships and my teaching. So to me, it’s really an opportunity to continue that and to delve into it more deeply and more expansively as a model of art making and innovation.
Before earning a Master of Arts in global performance from Lancaster University and Master of Fine Arts in directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Polendo studied biochemistry at Trinity University as an undergraduate.
WSN: How did being a scientist influence your career in arts?
Polendo: I always lean into problem solving and rich discourse around ideas of art. So in many ways, I’m the kind of artist that I am because I was trained as a scientist and so I’m always interested in experimentation, exploration and innovation in new horizons of the work that we do. I’m very grateful that my training taught me how to rigorously engage those explorations and inquiries in the arts.
Polendo is one of several deans appointed in recent months. Since June, the university has announced Polly Trottenburg as dean of the Wagner School of Public Policy, Melody Goodman as Dean of the School of Global Public Health and Michael Purugganan as interim dean of Faculty of Arts & Science.
Contact Natalie Deoragh at [email protected].
