The Wayne State University Department of Theatre is pleased to announce that senior Katheryn Monthei has been awarded the W. Oren Parker Award for Scene Design, by The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). Monthei is the first woman to win this prestigious award, which is given to one designer annually. The award will be presented to Monthei at the USITT convention in Long Beach California this spring. The award is given to an undergraduate who has demonstrated excellence or outstanding potential in scene design for the performing arts. The award is judged on composition skill, graphics ability, working with the director, craftwork, computer applications, rendering, effective use of resources, research, and personnel management. Charles E. Williams established the award in 2002 in order to honor W. Oren Parker, a personal friend, author of several acclaimed texts, and widely celebrated and respected instructor of scenic design. Williams thought it was time to recognize the exemplary yet often overlooked undergraduate scenic designers. Parker feels that students who chose scenic design as a field must have exceptional ability, because scenic design is a challenging and demanding discipline. Katheryn was chosen from a group of four nominees. With this honor, she will receive a complimentary conference registration and a monetary prize. Monthei was nominated by Assistant Professor of Theatre, Fred Florkowski. It was Katheryn's innate talent for art and visual expression that lead Florkowski to nominate her for the award. "Monthei is able to read a script and pull out from it the playwright's vision, turning it into stunning and emotional visuals. She has an excellent work ethic which, is needed in scenic design", says Florkowski. Her body of work at Wayne State University includes designs for Marisol by Jose Rivera, The Birthday Party By Harold Pinter, Jackie and the Beanstalk by Michelle Vacca, and most recently Derek Walcott's Nobel Prize winning Dream on Monkey Mountain, currently playing through February 1 at the Bonstelle Theatre. Katheryn is extremely devoted to her work, filling her schedule with multiple projects, often putting her personal life on the back burner. This was not truer than during the application process for the award. Monthei was so involved with several projects, that she missed the dead line. On top of her multiple projects and schoolwork, Monthei experienced personal tragedy with the passing of her mother during the application process this past holiday season. Upon learning of the special circumstances the award committee gave her an extension. A Northville, MI. resident, Katheryn plans to go to graduate school, and will be attending URTA (University Resident Theatre Association) in Chicago this February and is traveling to Moscow with the Theatre Department's study abroad program to attend The Moscow Art Theatre for a month in June.