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Purdue MFA Sound Design Candidate Jeff Sherwood Receives 2020 USITT Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award

United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Awards Graduate Student with Financial Prize; Provides Full Registration for Conference

Jeff Sherwood, a Master’s of Fine Arts candidate in the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance’s sound design program, received the 2020 USITT Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award. Winners of this award have completed work that creatively applied sound in the performing arts and executed their vision with respect to artistic and technical choices, process, and product. USITT is the Association for Performing Arts & Entertainment Professionals.

In his letter nominating Jeff for the award, Rick Thomas, professor and coordinator of design and production in the Department of Theatre in the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance, praised him for building a network of accomplished sound designers and prominent theatre organizations that helped him develop skills he willingly shared with Purdue’s undergraduate sound designers.

Rick added that Jeff “has demonstrated exceptional skills, an unquenched thirst to learn more, outstanding aesthetic conception, and flawless design process, including documentation, communication, pragmatic sensibility, and collaborative ability.”

As the award winner, Jeff will receive a $1,000 prize and a full conference registration for the USITT Conference & Stage Expo, which will be held April 1-4 in Houston.

Sherwood is the eighth Purdue sound design and audio technology graduate student to win the award since its inception in 1996 – an accomplishment unmatched by any other graduate sound program. You can view his Purdue "For the Honor" page here.