Professor Hackett, a renowned director, scholar, and professor of directing and theater history at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT), passed away on Sunday, December 14, 2025.  He served in numerous leadership roles at TFT, including Chair of the Department of Theater and Associate Dean for Student Affairs.  Known for exceptional scholarship and a lifelong commitment to students, Professor Hackett touched countless lives throughout a remarkable career and has left an enduring legacy within TFT.

Professor Hackett was an internationally active director whose work spanned opera, theater, and radio. He directed for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the Royal Theatre at The Hague; major theaters in Warsaw; the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; Los Angeles Opera; the Getty Center and Getty Villa; and L.A. Theatre Works, where his fifteen radio productions – including The Importance of Being Earnest – received national recognition and two Audie Award nominations. Working with both ancient and modern forms, and students and professionals alike, his directing integrated rigorous historical research with theatrical imagination.

His deepest international impact was in Poland, where he became a leading interpreter of Witold Gombrowicz. He directed five major productions, including the widely toured Virginity with Barbara Krafftowna, and collaborated with Anna Krajewska-Wieczorek on adaptations published and performed across the country. A documentary on his work aired on Polish National Television, and in 2020 he received the Witkacy Prize for his contributions to promoting Polish theater worldwide.

A dedicated educator, Hackett taught at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art—where he co-designed an influential music-drama program—and led Greek chorus workshops for fifteen years at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. His public scholarship included extensive lecturing for Los Angeles Opera, programs for major cultural institutions, and more than 70 arts interviews for KUSC Radio. His scholarly background—A.B. from Boston College and Ph.D. from Stanford—deeply shaped how he taught, directed, and interpreted dramatic texts.

Professor Hackett leaves a lasting legacy as a director of wide-ranging accomplishment and a teacher who made theater intellectually rich and vibrantly alive for generations of students. He will be remembered with respect and affection by those who knew him, learned from him, and worked with him.