Scholar, award-winning playwright, and founding chair of Pitt's Department of Theatre Arts, Favorini died on Jan. 22, 2022, of complications from Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia at his Sacramento, Calif., home. He was 78.
Favorini joined the Pitt faculty in 1969 and served 27 years as theatre arts department chair and many years as the department's director of graduate studies. He oversaw the renovation and construction of three theaters at Pitt. He also founded the Pitt-based Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival (1980-1993), hailed as one of the leading Shakespeare festivals in the country, and was named a Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine in 1989. He authored four books and six plays.