Ian Brennan Scholarship
Ian Brennan Establishes Endowed Scholarship
Alumnus and Emmy Award–Winning Creator's Scholarship will Support Loyola Theatre Students
The Department of Fine and Performing Arts in Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has established an endowed scholarship fund thanks to a gift from Ian Brennan (BA ’01).
The Ian Brennan Scholarship will provide support to students enrolled in a degree program in theatre at the University’s College of Arts and Sciences and have financial need, as determined by the University. The scholarship will begin to support students in academic year 2026-2027.
A celebrated writer, director, and producer, Brennan is best known as the co-creator of acclaimed shows Glee, Scream Queens, The Politician, Monster (The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and The Ed Gein Story), and The Watcher.
“I feel very connected to my time at Loyola,” Brennan said during a campus visit in spring 2025. “The Jesuit approach to learning is really special, and there are some classes I took here that I think about still on a weekly basis.”
“Ian is a shining example of how a Jesuit, liberal arts education cultivates creativity, empathy, and leadership,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “His generosity will open doors for future theatre students and leave a lasting mark on the Loyola community.”
“At Loyola, we encourage our students to see themselves as theatre makers, artists who create new work and, in doing so, develop the passion to ‘go forth and set the world on fire,’” said Lee Keenan, Director of Theatre.
“Ian truly embodies that spirit. His passion, talent, and career continue to inspire our students. This scholarship is a meaningful investment in the next generation of theatre makers and in the formative experiences at Loyola that will shape their own artistic journeys.” Lee Keenan, Director of Theatre
A native of the Chicago area, Brennan has remained engaged with Loyola and the College over the years. He served as the CAS commencement speaker in 2015 and returned to campus in 2025 to meet with theatre students, share career insights, and answer questions about working in the entertainment industry.
Brennan credits Loyola and his experience in the College of Arts and Sciences with playing a major role in his success. His deep appreciation for a liberal arts education inspired him to establish this scholarship to help make a Loyola education more accessible to future students.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
FOUNDED IN 1870, the College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest and largest of Loyola University Chicago’s 13 schools and colleges, serving as the academic home for nearly 8,000 students (roughly 50 percent of Loyola’s total student population). It is academically diverse with twenty academic departments that span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. It is also highly interdisciplinary with thirty-one interdisciplinary programs and seven interdisciplinary centers, including the mission-centric Jesuit Heritage Research Center and the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage.
The College is home to over 450 full-time, award-winning faculty, who are committed to teaching and research excellence. They teach nearly 2,000 classes each semester, including 88 percent of all Core Curriculum classes taken by undergraduate students across the university. They also contribute to eleven doctoral programs whose graduates have helped propel Loyola starting in 2025 to R-1 research status (the highest research status a university can achieve).
Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our John Felice Rome Center in Italy, as well as at dozens of university-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the university’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever-deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals.
Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”
The Department of Fine and Performing Arts in Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has established an endowed scholarship fund thanks to a gift from Ian Brennan (BA ’01).
The Ian Brennan Scholarship will provide support to students enrolled in a degree program in theatre at the University’s College of Arts and Sciences and have financial need, as determined by the University. The scholarship will begin to support students in academic year 2026-2027.
A celebrated writer, director, and producer, Brennan is best known as the co-creator of acclaimed shows Glee, Scream Queens, The Politician, Monster (The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and The Ed Gein Story), and The Watcher.
“I feel very connected to my time at Loyola,” Brennan said during a campus visit in spring 2025. “The Jesuit approach to learning is really special, and there are some classes I took here that I think about still on a weekly basis.”
“Ian is a shining example of how a Jesuit, liberal arts education cultivates creativity, empathy, and leadership,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “His generosity will open doors for future theatre students and leave a lasting mark on the Loyola community.”
“At Loyola, we encourage our students to see themselves as theatre makers, artists who create new work and, in doing so, develop the passion to ‘go forth and set the world on fire,’” said Lee Keenan, Director of Theatre.
“Ian truly embodies that spirit. His passion, talent, and career continue to inspire our students. This scholarship is a meaningful investment in the next generation of theatre makers and in the formative experiences at Loyola that will shape their own artistic journeys.” Lee Keenan, Director of Theatre
A native of the Chicago area, Brennan has remained engaged with Loyola and the College over the years. He served as the CAS commencement speaker in 2015 and returned to campus in 2025 to meet with theatre students, share career insights, and answer questions about working in the entertainment industry.
Brennan credits Loyola and his experience in the College of Arts and Sciences with playing a major role in his success. His deep appreciation for a liberal arts education inspired him to establish this scholarship to help make a Loyola education more accessible to future students.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
FOUNDED IN 1870, the College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest and largest of Loyola University Chicago’s 13 schools and colleges, serving as the academic home for nearly 8,000 students (roughly 50 percent of Loyola’s total student population). It is academically diverse with twenty academic departments that span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. It is also highly interdisciplinary with thirty-one interdisciplinary programs and seven interdisciplinary centers, including the mission-centric Jesuit Heritage Research Center and the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage.
The College is home to over 450 full-time, award-winning faculty, who are committed to teaching and research excellence. They teach nearly 2,000 classes each semester, including 88 percent of all Core Curriculum classes taken by undergraduate students across the university. They also contribute to eleven doctoral programs whose graduates have helped propel Loyola starting in 2025 to R-1 research status (the highest research status a university can achieve).
Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our John Felice Rome Center in Italy, as well as at dozens of university-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the university’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever-deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals.
Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”