Franky D. Gonzalez, Los Angeles, California, has been awarded the 2021 Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwrighting from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. In his speech, Franky thanked many faculty and staff members from the Department of Dance and Theatre and dedicated his award to retired professor Andrew B. Harris. Franky, a theater major, served as the Dramatists Guild Regional Representative in 2018 for the Dallas-Fort Worth region. He has worked with the Sundance Institute, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, the Great Plains Theatre Conference and more. Franky also served as a staff writer for the fourth season of the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why and has been a finalist at a variety of conferences, including the Playwrights Realm Scratchpad Series and the New Dramatists residency. He also has been named the 4 Seasons Resident Playwright, a Sony Pictures Television Diverse Writers Program Fellow and a Core Writer with the Playwrights’ Center.