Anthony Churchill of Des Plaines was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award at Oakton’s graduation on May 15.

As the technical director for Oakton’s Performing Arts Center, Churchill oversees the College’s theater facilities and equipment. In addition to stage managing and coordinating props and sound, he also serves as set designer. A past recipient of Oakton’s Staff Excellence Award, he helps create more than 200 plays, events, and installations across the country annually.

Churchill is strongly committed to “giving back” to his community. Since moving to Oakton’s district in 2009, he has stepped up his humanitarian service efforts. He tirelessly donates his time to a range of projects, including the renovation of the 1929-vaudeville house located in Des Plaines. In addition, he generously builds sets for local high schools, including the design of a castle for a 2011 production of Cinderella at the Willows Academy, an all-girls school in Des Plaines.

The winner of several screenwriting awards, Churchill is head writer for Midwest Underground, a music and variety television show out of Bloomington, Indiana. 

He earned his associate in arts degree from Oakton in 1998, a bachelor in fine arts degree from Northern Illinois University, and a master in fine arts degree in interior architecture from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University.