School of Dramatic Arts alumnus and faculty member Tim Dang is taking on his next leadership position: as an arts commissioner for Los Angeles County. Under his appointment, he serves on The Arts Commission, the advisory body of the L.A. County Department of Arts and Culture and newly formed commission that will invest in cultural organizations, create more creative careers and increase access to the arts throughout the county.

Along with this new role, Dang is directing a production of The Joy Luck Club by Susan Kim at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, which runs through Oct. 5. Based on the best-selling novel, the play explores the relationships and cultural and generational differences between four Chinese mothers and their daughters. The production is sound designed and composed by alumnus Nathan Wang.

Dang is a producer, arts administrator, organizational strategic planning consultant, cultural diversity and equity advocate and a writer and script development consultant. He is the recipient of the 2015 Society of Directors and Choreographers’ Zelda Fichandler Award and is the Co-Chair of the Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative Advisory Committee through the LA County Board of Supervisors. He is the producing artistic director emeritus of East West Players and has directed for Mainstreet Theatre, LA Theatre Works, Singapore Repertory Theatre, PanAsian Repertory Theatre, GeVa Theater Center, Mark Taper Forum New Works Festival, Celebration Theatre and Perseverance Theatre.