Tom Amen – Professor

With a BA in Acting from the University of California, Irvine and an MFA in Directing from the University of Utah, Tom began his career as a theater director and educator over 30 years ago.

Currently celebrating his 26th year as a professor in the Theater Arts Department at Golden West College, Tom was nominated as Teacher of the Year during the 2014/2015 and 2019/2020 academic years and was nominated for a Faculty Excellence Award in the Spring of 2022.

As an educator, Tom is committed to helping students succeed; the privilege of mentoring students through the process of discovering and developing their own unique intellectual and creative strengths continues to drive Tom’s work as a teaching artist.

As a theater director, Tom has staged over 90 productions in California and Utah, and over 50 productions at Golden West College. Favorite GWC directing credits include: The Nether, Every Brilliant Thing, The Exorcist, Inventing Van Gogh, On the Exhale, The Pillowman, Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, Playing With Fire: After Frankenstein, Dracula, The Glass Menagerie, Never the Sinner, Waiting for Godot, Quills, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Turn of the Screw, 1984, Moby Dick, A Streetcar Named Desire, Doubt, Othello, Proof, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Rashomon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, A Few Good Men, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Of Mice and Men, Medea, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible, and Dancing at Lughnasa.

Future GWC directing projects include The Diviners by Jim Leonard Jr. and Eight Seconds by Tim Mueller, both of which will open during the 2025-2026 GWC Theater Season.

In addition to his work as a professor and director, Tom remains engaged in several ongoing playwriting projects, including adaptations of plays by August Strindberg and Luigi Pirandello, and an original play, Lunger: The Last Days of Doc Holliday.

Away from campus, Tom is an avid traveler, surfer, snow skier, and deep-sea fisherman. He and his wife Nina are also the proud parents of a Native American Shepherd named Thunder, a German Indian Dog named Stormy, and an Australian Indian Dog puppy named Sundance aka Sunny.

Tom encourages anyone with an interest in theater to get involved in the exciting and welcoming Theater Arts Department at Golden West College!