Professor Dennis McLernon and Professor Kelly Allison Two longtime University of Alabama at Birmingham theater educators have been selected for honors by the Alabama Conference of Theatre.
The ACT presented awards to Professor Kelly Allison and Professor Dennis McLernon, who recently retired, at its annual state summit Aug. 23 at Spain Park High School.
Allison was honored with the ACT Hall of Fame Award for Pioneers in Alabama Theatre. McLernon was honored with the Dorothy Schwartz Outstanding Educator Award.
Allison joined the UAB Department of Theatre, in the College of Arts and Sciences, in 1998. He led the department as chair from 2011 until summer 2025. Allison has taught Theatre Cornerstone, Theatre Capstone, Stage Management, Lighting Design, and Audio Design and Technology. He has held faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Luther College in Iowa and Normandale Community College in Minnesota. He has also been a guest lecturer at The Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and a guest lecturer/lighting designer at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Allison is a member of the Region 4 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Selection Team, chair for the Alabama School of Fine Arts Board of Trustees, and site visitor and Commission member for the National Association of Schools of Theatre. He has completed the Blaze Leadership Academy, the American Council on Education Leadership Academy for Department Chairs, the UAB Executive Leadership Program and the International Council of Fine Arts Deans Fellows Program. His extensive professional credits include 14 seasons with the Utah Shakespeare Festival (including USF’s Tony Award-winning season), the Guthrie Theatre, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Opera Birmingham, the USA International Ballet Competition, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, 7 Stages, Horizon Theatre Company, Actor’s Express, Theatre in the Square and The Alabama Ballet.
Allison’s true passion is mentoring the next generation of artists, technicians and managers at UAB. His students have won local, regional and national awards.
McLernon, who retired from UAB in the spring, joined the UAB Department of Theatre in 2000. He received national recognition from The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in the areas of teaching (2007), directing (2008) and acting (2010). He was awarded regional recognition by KCACTF for Excellence in Directing for his UAB productions of “Rabbit Hole,” “Clybourne Park,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The House of Blue Leaves,” “In the Blood” and “The Piano Lesson.” McLernon is a founding member of Birmingham’s professional acting company, City Equity Theatre. He has appeared in dozens of commercials during his career and can be heard in more than 100 voiceover spots nationally.