Honoree Bio

T. Randolph Harris has distinguished himself as a nationally prominent trust and estates lawyer and as a patron of the arts. Randy received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and went on to receive his J.D. and a Master of Laws in Taxation from the New York University School of Law. In April of 2000 he joined (and continues to practice at) the NY firm of McLaughlin & Stern as co-chair of the Trusts & Estates Department. Randy also served for more than 25 year as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University, teaching Estate Planning in the Graduate Tax Law Program. In addition to The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Randy has shared his time and talent as an officer and trustee of numerous charitable organizations, currently serving as Chair of the Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts of the Salzburg Global Seminar and Vice President of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Foundation.  However, his most important role in the charitable world has likely been as a founder (in 1992) and Co-Trustee of the Edward T. Cone Foundation. One of the Cone Foundation’s primary objectives is to support the performing arts, with an emphasis on New Jersey organizations.  The Shakespeare Theatre would likely not be where it is now if not for more than 30 years of timely capital and annual grants from the Cone Foundation.

Randy joined the Board of The Shakespeare Theatre at the beginning of 1994, quickly rising through the ranks to become Chairman of the Board and Co-Chair (with former New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean) of the Act I capital campaign. This campaign was launched to transform the Shakespeare Theatre’s home on the Drew University campus, Bowne Theatre (a former gymnasium built in 1909), into a state-of-the art professional theater. From 1994 to 1998, with then Artistic Director Bonnie J. Monte at the helm, the Board completed a successful $7.5 million campaign and completely metamorphosed the building into what is now the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. A decade later, Bonnie and the Board began the search for a centralized support facility to house the Theatre’s education, production, and administrative functions, launching the capital campaign for Act II: The Legacy Project that resulted in the purchase and renovation of what is now the Thomas H. Kean Theatre Factory.

In his three-plus decades of board service to The Shakespeare Theatre, Randy has dedicated himself to the Theatre’s success by actively lending his voice and leadership through countless meetings, retreats, and planning sessions; through budget crunches, board revolts, a ransomware attack and a global pandemic; and through a successful transfer of artistic leadership to current Artistic Director Brian B. Crowe. Through it all, Randy and his wife Barbara Sloan have generously supported the Theatre and successfully encouraged others to do the same.

The Mighty Quill Award was created by The Shakespeare Theatre in 2002, the Theatre’s 40th Anniversary season, to honor people or organizations that have demonstrated longstanding and extraordinary championship of The Shakespeare Theatre. This marks only the sixth time in more than 20 years that the Theatre has bestowed this honor, and we could not be more grateful and proud to recognize T. Randolph Harris with the Mighty Quill Award.