Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship (ACES)

Lynette Young Overby

Inducted in
2021

University of Delaware

Director, Community Engagement Initiative
Professor, Department of Theatre

Photo of Lynette Young Overby

Biographical Abstracts

Lynnette Young Overby, PhD, is director of The Community Engagement Initiative and founding director of the Partnership for Arts & Culture, University of Delaware (UD). She also directs the UD Dance Minor and is the Artistic Director of the Sharing our Legacy Dance Theatre. Her publications are included in The Journal of Dance Education and The Journal of Mental Imagery, and she has served as co-editor of nine volumes of Dance: Current Selected Research. Leadership roles in Dance Education have included service as President of the National Dance Association, President of the Michigan Dance Council, and President of the Delaware Dance Education Organization. She serves as Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee for the Engaged Scholarship Consortium.

Overby received the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Dance Education Organization and in 2020, served on the Biden/Harris Agency Review Team in the area of Arts and Humanities. In 2021 Lynnette Overby was nominated by President Biden to serve on the National Endowment for the Humanities Council. She is a graduate of Hampton University (BS), George Washington University (MA), and The University of Maryland, College Park (PhD).

Areas of Expertise

  • Pre-service and in-service teachers
  • Promotion and tenure issues
  • Policy