Dr. Sarah Gabel is the Chairperson for the Department of Fine and Performing Arts.  She teaches a variety of acting and directing classes and serves as director of LUC Theatre's Senior Showcase. She has served on a several university committees including Academic Council for the College of Arts and Sciences, Faculty Council, and the 2009-2014 Strategic Plan Steering Committee. She is a member of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans and the American Theatre Association for Higher Education. Dr. Gabel is on the Board of Directors of Sarah's Inn, an organization dedication to freedom from domestic violence.

Dr. Gabel has a strong interest in musical theatre, particularly the works of Stephen Sondheim. On the Loyola University Chicago Mullady stage, she has directed Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,  Assassins, Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, West Side Story and Little Women: The Musical. She has also directed Merrily We Roll Along. Other Loyola productions directed by Dr. Gabel include Electra, Baby, A Chorus Line, Hedda Gabler, Antigone, and The Pirates of Penzance. Her recent professional directing credits include Third (Apple Tree Theatre), Bleach (13 Carat Productions), Climbing the Volcano (Piccolo Theatre), The Fantasticks (Organic Theatre), The Infernal Machine (The Eclipse Theatre), and several Chicago Christmas Revels for Revels Incorporated. Dr. Gabel has an interest in the development of new plays. She has directed the world premieres of Not Even the Children (2000 ACTD Regional Finalist) written by alumnus Philip Dawkins, The Devil in Dispunta, Amorphous George (1986 ACTF Finalist), Bully, and At the Paradise Club.