DeAnna Toten Beard

Dr. DeAnna Toten Beard has been on the faculty at Baylor since 2002.  She earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre History, Literature, and Criticism from Indiana University, a Master of Fine Arts in Dramaturgy from Stony Brook University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and English Literature from the University of Mary Washington.

Along with her appointment as vice provost for faculty affairs, Dr. Toten Beard is a professor of theatre history in the Department of Theatre Arts, where she served as chair from 2018-2023 and associate chair from 2013-2018. In 2012, she was named a Baylor Teaching Fellow. Dr. Toten Beard has also taught in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and served as co-director of the Baylor in Oxford study abroad program from 2014-2019.

Dr. Toten Beard has been married for 32 years to Kemper Beard, and they share two amazing adult children, Gracie Beard (Baylor, BA Anthropology 2016) and Henry Beard (Baylor, BFA Theatre Design and Technology 2020). She enjoys traveling, making art, walking and hiking, jigsaw puzzles, cooking, and spoiling her two golden doodles. She is a longtime member of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waco, where she serves as a worship assistant and co-leader of the fine arts ministry.