Alex Ates is the inaugural Director of Arts at Kent Denver School, where he serves on senior leadership. Previously, he was Director of Pre-K-12 Visual and Performing Arts and David Mallery Fellow at Westtown School. He was the Education and Engagement Director of The NOLA Project and served on the American Alliance for Theatre and Education board. Since 2017, Alex has directed the Arts and Leadership Workshop at Teachers College, Columbia University. As a prolific journalist and essayist, he has contributed to Backstage, American Theatre, and HowlRound.
Specializing in new play development and Shakespeare adaptations, Alex has incubated 11 plays and musicals. An award-winning scholar, his academic research on theater pedagogy is published in several peer-reviewed journals. Alex has directed at numerous universities and is a member of Actors' Equity and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Alex's undergraduate degree is from Emerson College with graduate degrees from The University of Alabama and NYU (where he was a Dean's Scholar and received the school's highest honor). He is from New Orleans and lives in Denver.