Peggy O'Brien

Education and early career

O'Brien attended Trinity Washington University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. The same year she began teaching high school English at public schools in Washington, D.C., where she continued teaching until 1975. In 1971, O'Brien graduated from The Catholic University of America with a Master of Arts degree. From 1973-1976 she served as the education coordinator of the Street Law Project at Georgetown University Law Center. She graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy from American University in 1993

Career at the Folger Shakespeare Library

O'Brien began at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1981, originally hired to run the Museum docent program. Noticing that the library's only education programs were aimed at graduate students, O'Brien set the education mission and its commitment to elementary, middle, and high school students and their teachers. "Soon after, tribes of fourth- through twelfth-grade teachers and students began flowing through the Folger Library on a regular basis. Day-long workshops with actors and scholars for teachers. A special fellowship semester for 18 seniors from high schools all around the metropolitan DC area. Seventh through twelfth graders in the winter, and fourth through sixth graders in the spring, turned up for the student Shakespeare festivals."

O'Brien founded the Folger Shakespeare Library's education division, and started a full range of educational programs, including the Teaching Shakespeare Institute, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She created a network of smaller institutes and workshops that served teachers around the United States, bringing teachers from all over the country to study together and with distinguished faculty of scholars, actors, and teachers assembled especially for this purpose.

Career in educational media and technology

O'Brien joined the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1994 as vice president of education and director of educational programs. She supported early education technology projects in schools across the country. O'Brien worked with Masterpiece to produce Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection, a series of television adaptations of American novels, including The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather, Cora Unashamed by Langston Hughes, The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty, A Death in the Family by James Agee, and Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago. As the only teacher working at CPB, O'Brien had the notion to bring together English teachers from all over the country to collaborate on ways to teach these films, make them accessible to students, and have an effect on the classroom. She collaborated with the National Council of Teachers of English, helping to build a website with a community of teachers all over the country, and premiering the films at the NCTE convention.

After a stint in 2000-2001 as chief operating officer and chief learning officer of internet start-up company Knowledge In, Knowledge Out, Inc. (KIKO) in Long Beach, California, O'Brien was recruited by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association as executive director of the National Cable and Telecommunications Education Foundation, where she served until 2004.

Return to Washington, D.C. public schools

From 2008 to 2011, O'Brien served as chief of family and public engagement on the chancellor's ten-member leadership team.

Board and advisory committee memberships

Association of American Colleges and Universities, Washington, DC, National Leadership Council, 2006–present, SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, Director, 2005–present, St. Coletta’s Public Charter School, Washington, DC, Director, 2006-2008; 2011–present, Black Women’s Playwrighting Forum, Washington, DC, Director, 1996–present, Trinity University, Washington, DC, Chair, Board of Trustees, 2001-2008, National PTA, Chicago, IL, Director, 2004-2007, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Founding Board Member, 2001-2004, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC, Director, 1995-2001, Capitol Hill Day School, Washington, DC, Director, 1992-1995

Consultancies and residences

Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY, 1998-present, Folger Shakespeare Library, 1994-present, JFK Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, 1994-present, Carnegie Hall, NY, 2009, Washington Post, Washington, DC, 2000-2005, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 1992-2002, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford and London, 1985-1995, PEN/Faulkner Foundation, 1985-2003, DC Public Schools, Arts and Humanities Task Force, 1988-1998, Enid, OK Public Schools, 1994-1995

Publications

“What’s Past: The founding head of education at the Folger Library on how it all got started,“ English Journal, September 2009 Shakespeare Set Free Series, New York: Washington Square Press, creator and general editor, 1993-1995 (second editions, 2006) “Technology is Vital for Strong Education,” Multichannel News, backpage, April 24, 2002 "Shakespeare Reborn," Humanities, Summer 1996 "'And Gladly Teach: Books, Articles, and a Bibliography on the Teaching of Shakespeare," Shakespeare Quarterly, Summer 1995

Media and theater

One-on-One with Athol Fugard, on camera host, Kennedy Center In Performance Television Series, 1999 Shenandoah Shakespeare National Tour, Taming of the Shrew, director, 1998 NPR, Talk of the Nation, Shakespeare Education—Who Needs It, 1994 Bill’s Buddies, creator and executive producer, 1985-1994

Awards and honors

Shakespeare Steward Award, 2008 Fillmore Arts Center, DC Public Schools, Arts Education Award, 1997 Doctor of Laws honoris causa, Trinity College, May 1994 The Public Humanities Award, D.C. Community Humanities Council, 1993 Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa, Georgetown University, May 1991