Todd Wetzel, assistant vice provost for Student Life—wins North American Award

West Lafayette, IN—Purdue Convocations is pleased to announce that Todd Wetzel, assistant vice provost for Student Life at Purdue University and executive director of Purdue Convocations, was recently awarded the 2018 North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents Award for Excellence in Presenting the Performing Arts.

NAPAMA created this “Presenter of the Year” award to recognize inspiring individuals who have made innumerable contributions to the performing arts field by exemplifying excellence in mentorship, setting examples of best practices, achievement, and leadership, and cultivating and promoting diversity, practicing inclusion, and creating equity for underserved members of their community. 

ABOUT TODD WETZEL

A cultural campus leader, Wetzel serves as assistant vice provost for Student Life at Purdue University and as executive director of Purdue Convocations, a multidisciplinary arts presenting organization, and oversees Purdue’s multi-theatre complex and professional production enterprise. As artistic director, he presents over 35 touring, professional presentations each season across the performing arts, entertainment, and discourse spectrum, and has championed the integration of performing arts experiences into P-12 and collegiate curricula through thematic programming and arts effectiveness research. Additionally, Wetzel has significantly expanded the aesthetic range and presentational capacity of the organization through site-specific and non-traditional venues and an abiding curiosity for international, contemporary, and non-traditional works. Wetzel has championed equity, diversity, and inclusion in both his hiring practices and his programming. He regularly programs unheard voices and performance work created by marginalized groups and people of color to the audiences at Purdue University. He also has served as a mentor to countless colleagues in his field. Previously, at Valparaiso University (1990-1997), he participated in the design and construction of the VU Center for the Arts and served as the facility’s first director. Additionally, Wetzel has served, and continues to serve, on numerous boards and grant panels in the field, including but not limited to that of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Indiana Presenters Network.

ABOUT NAPAMA
NAPAMA, the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents, promotes the best interests of professionals engaged in the touring of the performing arts through building and sharing knowledge, advocacy, leadership, and innovation.

Committed to the core values of equity, diversity and inclusion, NAPAMA provides members with a platform for networking, communication, information exchange, resource identification, trends in the field, research, and best practices. NAPAMA is deeply dedicated to returning value to its members, respecting the voices of all constituencies in the performing arts.