About Our Alumni
A theatre degree from UMBC can lead to a number of diverse career paths.
UMBC Theatre graduates become successful working actors and designers at professional theatres across the country, as well in TV/Film. Graduates have started their own theatre companies, received prestigious awards and grants, become professors at universities, produced their own films, and more.
Our graduates wanting to continue their theatre training have gone on to study at various institutions including University of Maryland, College Park, Towson University, Texas Tech University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of San Diego, University of Iowa, Mary Baldwin University, New York University, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, California Institute of the Arts, University of Indiana, Yale, and the list continues to grow!
2025 – 2026 Featured Alumni
Jacob Mueller, BA Theatre, Design and Production (’17)
Jacob Mueller is an Architectural Lighting Designer and Consultant for Illuminations, Inc. serving Architects, Developers, and Interior Designers on both residential and commercial projects. Illuminations is an agency that represents best-in-class architectural lighting and design products from around the globe. In this role, Jacob became Lighting Certified by the National Council on Qualifications for Lighting Professionals.
“You’re probably thinking – but that’s not theatre. Architectural Lighting Design is all about focus, ambiance, and drama. The scenery rarely ever changes. People are still wearing costumes and moving through space. Triggers and Heaps abound. It’s 9-5 drama without the late nights and 10/12s. It’s lovely.”
Before the current chapter in his career, Jacob served as a Project Manager for Barbizon Lighting Company where he managed theatrical lighting and rigging infrastructure installations across the Mid-Atlantic Region. Jacob managed high profile installations at The White House, The National Security Administration, The U.S. Naval Institute, The National Marine Corps Museum, The NEW Spy Museum, The American Indian Museum, The American History Museum, and The Kennedy Center.
Professor Adam Mendelson once explained lighting design with a fish tank metaphor noting 6 different perspectives. Lighting is hard to visualize and even harder to explain, so Jacob now finds himself using the fish tank concept in design meetings with his own clients. Jacob also credits Mendelson with the best advice he received while at UMBC. During an especially tense tech rehearsal, Adam pulled him aside and said, “You need to make decisions faster. Whether it’s the right decision or the wrong decision – it’s the only way you’ll know if you made a bad decision.”
In addition to his accomplishments in the theatre department, Jacob was also honored to be a Linehan Scholar and continues to be thankful for the unique opportunities it provided.
When Jacob isn’t working, he spends his free time fly fishing or lending a hand on the family farm back home in Easton, MD. Jacob resides in Washington, DC with his dog, Beasley.
Featured Alumni Archive
Read past features from alumni, across all of our majors, on our archive page.
The best way to keep up with our alumni is to follow UMBC Theatre’s Facebook and Instagram.
Contact Us
If you’re an alumni of the department – we’d love to hear what you’ve been up to!
Send us an update at theatre@umbc.edu.