An excellent actor, James Houghton ’81 founded off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre in 1991. Under James’ leadership, the organization received a Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2014. He received a 2015 Obie Award and 2016 Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards. Since 2006, James also served as the director of the drama division at Juilliard and was a judge and nominator for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award. He died on Aug. 2, 2017, and is survived by his wife and two children.