Drew J. Kahn, M.F.A.

Drew Kahn is a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Theater at SUNY Buffalo State where he teaches acting (President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching/SUNY) and has directed over 20 productions (Kennedy Center Award). In addition to his work in higher education, he has taught K-12 populations for over three decades. He is the Founding Director of the Anne Frank Project, a multi-layered social justice program at SUNY Buffalo State that utilizes the wisdom of Anne Frank as a springboard for the examination of oppression through the lenses of story and performance. He presents and teaches internationally on the use of story as a tool for conflict resolution, community building and identity exploration—most recently in Rwanda, Kenya, Switzerland, DR Congo, Turkey, Burma and Viet Nam (Toby Ticktin Back Award for Holocaust Education and the National Federation for Just Communities-Community Leader Award,). Currently, Professor Kahn’s work focuses on training teachers in Rwanda, Kenya and the U.S., providing tools to bring the power of Story to classrooms. His book, Story Building: A Practical Guide for Bringing the Power of Stories into the Classroom is used by teachers and organizations around the world. He has extensive acting experience in regional theatre and off-Broadway, feature film and multiple television credits. Professor Kahn was the host of WKBW-TV’s (ABC) AM Buffalo for six years, hosted the WNED (PBS) documentary Saving a Landmark: The Darwin Martin House (Telly Award) and has numerous local commercial and stage credits (ArtVoice Artie Award). He received his MFA from Southern Methodist University and his BA from San Diego State University. His favorite roles are husband to his wife Maria and dad to his children Sam and Nate.