Rachel Shteir (left, photo by Doug McGoldrick) and Tomás Gueglio (right, provided photo) were selected as 2025 Guggenheim Fellows.
Rachel Shteir, head of dramaturgy at The Theatre School, and
Tomás Gueglio, adjunct lecturer of musicianship at the School of Music, were selected as members of the 2025 class of Guggenheim Fellows. They join a
class of 198 leaders in science, the arts and humanities. The fellowship, established in 1925, provides resources to pursue independent work at a high level.
Shteir has written four books on media and pop culture and shares her expertise with theatre studies students. Her work will be bolstered by the fellowship’s resources.
"I am honored and thrilled to be in the 2025 class of Guggenheim fellows,” Shteir says. “What it means to me, practically speaking, is that I will be able to take fall and winter quarters off to finish my fifth book, 'Why Theater Matters,' currently under contract at Yale University Press. The gift of time is enormous. But additionally, there is the gift of recognition of my whole body of work."
This honor is reflective of not only Shteir’s expertise but also the quality of education at The Theatre School.
“This is such a well-deserved honor for Professor Shteir,” Martine Green-Rogers, dean of The Theatre School, says. “This fellowship will provide her the time and space to focus on her tradition of advocating for the theatre through her scholarship in ways that are accessible to those in and outside of our industry. The Theatre School is happy to celebrate this honor with her.”
Gueglio is a composer and guitarist whose works have been presented in the Library of Congress and performed by renowned ensembles throughout the world.
“This group of pieces, which I’ve been working on for five or six years, is centered around soap operas and melodramas, filtering the big emotions in those works into a more modernist compositional view,” Gueglio says. “The fellowship will allow me to revise and refine these pieces and record them to share with the public."
In his role at DePaul, Gueglio works with students on the intricate theories behind music composition.
“We are deeply proud that one of our newest faculty members has been awarded a Guggenheim,” John Milbauer, dean of the School of Music, says. “We celebrate with Tomás and honor him not only for this singular achievement but for the excitement and inspiration this recognition brings to all of us at DePaul.”
In its 100th year, Guggenheim “celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists,” said Edward Hirsch, president of the Guggenheim Foundation. “We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.”