SAA Office
The Shakespeare Association of America is located in the English Department of the University of Alabama.
Shakespeare Association of America
Department of English
The University of Alabama
Box 870244
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0244
E-mail: SAA@shakespeareassociation.org
Phone: 205-210-8248
Executive Director
Tricia A. McElroy
University of Alabama
Tricia A. McElroy is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Alabama. She serves on the faculty of the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies and teaches widely across early modern literature. Her research focuses on Renaissance Scotland, specifically on political satire, manuscript culture, and the partisan uses of literary genre in memoirs and histories of the period. For the Scottish Text Society, she is working on an edition of satire, entitled Satire of the Scottish Civil War, 1567-1584: Politics, Religion, and Society. She has published work on female complaint, Scottish Reformation broadsides, the polemics of George Buchanan, and the function of genre in Holinshed’s Chronicles. McElroy served as Associate Dean for Humanities and Fine Arts in the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences, 2014-2024, and she is a member of the Editorial Board for the University of Alabama Press.
Assistant Director
Bi-qi Beatrice Lei
Bi-qi Beatrice Lei joined the SAA Office in 2016, and has since launched several significant technological upgrades and renovations to streamline workflows, revamp data security, implement conference and website functionality and accessibility, and enhance member experience. Prior to serving as the SAA’s Assistant Director, she facilitated a live performance in 2012, led a seminar in 2013, and exhibited a digital project in 2014. Lei founded the Asian Shakespeare Association and the Taiwan Shakespeare Database, and has published on Sidney, Shakespeare, early modern culture, intercultural performance, and digital humanities. She is a co-editor of the Arden Bloomsbury book series “Global Shakespeare Inverted,” and currently serves as Chair of the Asian Shakespeare Association and Vice-Chair of the International Shakespeare Association.
Program Associate
Donna Even-Kesef
Stanford University
Donna Even-Kesef started with the SAA at Georgetown University in June 2007. She has been actively involved in all facets of SAA operations over the years. Currently, she works with the Executive Director in the area of finance, with the LAC on fundraising, with vendors and exhibitors, and of course the annual conference. Donna’s fulltime role is with Stanford University as the Division Manager for Stanford Global Studies (SGS).
Project Coordinator
Precious Bailey
University of Alabama
Precious Bailey joined the SAA in October 2025, bringing with her extensive administrative expertise cultivated at the University of Alabama. Throughout her career at the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences, she has honed a sophisticated skillset in complex academic administration. Beyond managing sensitive academic misconduct processes, she has become adept at streamlining high-level departmental operations, implementing efficient record-keeping systems, and facilitating clear, professional communication between faculty, students, and administrative leadership. In her current role with the SAA, Ms. Bailey oversees daily operations, including member relations and strategic program management. She serves as the primary lead for the annual conference, where she coordinates all logistical elements—ranging from vendor and hotel liaison management to the oversight of A/V production, catering, and transportation.
Special Projects
D. Geoffrey Emerson
University of Alabama
D. Geoffrey Emerson is a Full-time Instructor at the University of Alabama. Having his PhD. from the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at UA, his teaching ranges from British Literature to medical humanities in the McCollough Institute for Pre-medical Scholars. His research focuses on scientific communication and literature in the seventeenth century, but has recently expanded to science, metaphor and culture in the present. Joining the SAA staff in 2026, Geoffrey focuses on communications and program coordination.
Treasurer
Melody Fetske
Melody Fetske is an experienced non-profit manager and CPA, familiar with all administrative functions. She retired from her position as CFO of the Folger Shakespeare Library in 2019. She has deep experience in managing priorities, establishing strategic plans and managing change. Her specialties include: human resources, accounting and finance, information technology, facilities management and operations, construction project management, budgeting, fund-raising, and working with volunteer boards. Other experience includes serving as controller of a Washington D.C. law firm (1979-1981) and working in two credit unions (1972-1979).
Social Media Coordinator
Anna Hegland
Carthage College
Anna Hegland joined the SAA staff in October 2021 as Social Media Intern. She is an adjunct professor and Director of the Brainard Writing Center and Peer Tutoring at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Since earning her PhD in Medieval and Early Modern Studies from the University of Kent in 2022, her work has been published in the British Shakespeare Association’s Teaching Shakespeare magazine, Shakespeare Bulletin, and Symbolism, and a chapter on Middleton and pedagogy appears in the edited collection Boundaries of Violence (Routledge, 2023). She is also a co-editor of and author in the recent collection, The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton, 1624-2024 (Routledge, 2024). She participated in SAA seminars at the 2021 virtual meeting and in-person in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and exhibited a digital project at the Virtual Pre-Conference of the 2022 Annual Meeting.
The University of Alabama, part of The University of Alabama System, is the state’s flagship university and a national leader in teaching, research and service. UA prepares graduates for a rapidly changing world while strengthening communities and advancing Alabama’s future. The University offers more than 200 degree programs and supports a dynamic research enterprise that connects discovery and innovation to real-world impact across disciplines. Known for its academic excellence and vibrant campus community, The University of Alabama provides a forward-looking, student-centered environment where students gain the knowledge and experiences to solve real-world challenges and graduate prepared to lead.
The Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies
Housed in the Department of English at the University of Alabama, the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies is a privately endowed program that promotes the study of early modern British literature and culture. The Strode Program supports graduate study at both the MA and PhD levels and also hosts a range of programs, including symposia, lectures by distinguished scholars, and The Alabama Shakespeare Project (a performance-based research collective). The intellectual work and educational activities sponsored by the Strode Program benefit our students, our faculty, and the wider communities of the University of Alabama and West Alabama.