Charles Smith (Playwright) is a Distinguished Professor of Playwriting, Presidential Research Scholar in the Arts and Humanities, and head of the Professional Playwriting Program at Ohio University. As alumnus playwright of New York’s New Dramatists, graduate of the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and one of the founding members of the Playwrights Ensemble at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre, he has also taught playwriting at Northwestern University, for the Prague Summer Program in Creative Writing in the Czech Republic, and for the Center for Dramatic Art in Groznjan, Croatia. His plays have been produced Off-Broadway, in many theaters around the country, and as far away as Australia. His work has been produced for the HBO New Writers Project, the International Children’s Theater Festival in Seattle, and The National Black Theatre Festival. Free Man of Color was awarded the Joseph Jefferson Award and a John W. Schmid Award, both for Outstanding New Work. Smith is also the author of two Emmy Award-winning teleplays,  Fast Break to Glory and Pequito. He has received numerous awards including the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, Princess Grace Fellowship, the Cornerstone National Playwriting Award, and the NBC New Voices Award, to name a few.